


Snitches Get Stitches

by deckerla



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: All mistakes are mine, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Tony Stark, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Director Phil Coulson, Graphic depictions of wounds and crimescenes, Horror crossover, Howard Stark's Good Parenting, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Misunderstandings, Nick Fury Lies, Not Beta Read, Past Rape/Non-con, Peggy and Howard barely make an appearance, Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Nick Fury, Rape Recovery, Secrets, Self-Harm, Slight Canon Divergence, Sort Of, Steve Rogers Feels, Team as Family, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Underage Rape/Non-con, but he means well, tiny bit of smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-03-04 15:05:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 44,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13367238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deckerla/pseuds/deckerla
Summary: SHIELD has been rebuilt in the shadows and is aiding the Avengers in looking for Loki's sceptor while dismantling HYDRA. Between following (false) leads and blowing up HYDRA bases, the blossoming relationship and later engagement of their fearless leaders has the Avengers leading happy lives as a family of choice. When a brutal murder and secrets tear everything apart, Tony is left to deal on his own when he needs his team and his fiance most.Takes place between CA: TWS and Avengers: AOU. There's only slight canon divergence in that Tony and Pepper broke up after she almost died in IM3, the Avengers know Coulson is alive and is leading underground S.H.I.E.L.D., and that Tony reached out to Steve after he ends up in the hospital at the end of TWS.This story is a cross-over with a popular horror franchise that will remain unnamed until the pivotal reveal- let it be known that I own nothing Avengers related or related to the horror franchise. The only thing I own is my OC.





	1. The Omen

**Author's Note:**

> I included Rape/non con and underage warnings just in case. Unfortunately those aspects of the story are necessary, but they are not graphically depicted and do not show up until later in the story. The same applies to the self-harm tags. I will be sure to post warnings at the beginning of each chapter that involve such subject matter.
> 
> I do not take Self-Harm, Rape, and Non Con lightly and loathe to write it, so anything pertaining to it will be as non-graphic as possible. However, if these situations are a trigger for you, please do not read.
> 
> Additional tags will be added later if necessary.
> 
> Thoughts and flashbacks are in italics.
> 
> This work is not beta'd. All mistakes are mine.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sign of things to come...

**WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7th**

“Tony, just hang in there, Sweetheart. Please stay awake for me, just a little while longer. TONY!”

Despite the heaviness of his eyelids, Tony stared up at Steve’s worried expression and at the anguish and concern marring his face. He could see the stars slowly passing over their heads as he was jostled as gently as the super soldier could manage while executing a bridal carry as Steve ran full speed toward the waiting QuinJet. Tony was only vaguely aware of his surroundings and his body as he came down from the adrenaline high; the burning in his side and tightness in his chest were minor annoyances as he gazed at Steve. Confusion clouded his mind and his heart pounded against his rib cage in a way reminiscent of arc reactor failure as his left arm flapped against Steve’s side and his right arm hung in front of him. He could hear Steve continue calling out assurances to him between pants as he ran. 

“I need Bruce, now! Something’s wrong,” Steve said into the air, alternating between watching as he ran and glancing down at the limp body in his arms.

As they made their way into the QuinJet, Tony felt more than saw as Steve laid him down on the small medical bed. Everything was blurry as tears formed of their own accord in the chocolate eyes that once had such sparkle. He could barely make out Steve as he saw him move his left hand to his ear and speak again, whatever was said into the comms lost to his comprehension. His body felt heavy and beaten, but his head felt floaty. He was so, so tired and he wanted more than anything to succumb to the darkness that was starting to creep into the edges of his vision. 

So tired…

 

_“May I have this dance?”_

_**Wise men say**_  
_**Only fools rush in**_

_That smile- that billion dollar, mega-watt smile that Steve seemed to save only for him turned on in an instant as his love heard the beginning bars of Elvis Presley begin to croon from their bedroom speakers. Tony couldn’t miss the sparkle of surprise in Steve’s eyes as Tony stood up from his seated position next to him on the bed, song lists scattered on the bedspread, and held out his hand._

_“You were expecting Black Sabbath as the song for our first dance as husband and husband?”_

_“I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when you called me excitedly and said you’d found the ‘perfect song.’”_

 

“What happened!?”

“He collapsed, he’s not responding…”

 

_**Shall I stay?**_

_Steve moved to the other side of the bed and stood with the grace befitting a scientifically enhanced weapon of mass seduction, and slowly made his way over to his fiancé._

_**Would it be a sin**_  
_**If I can’t help falling in love with you?**_

_Tony had a mischievous glint in his eye as he said, “the Black Sabbath/Francis Scott Key mash-up is for when we dramatically enter the reception.”_

 

“Steve, call the others back, we need to get him to a hospital, ASAP. I don’t have everything here that I need…”

 

_**Like a river flows**_  
_**Surely to the sea**_

_“I’d expect nothing less,” and a smirk. That smirk will be the death of him._

_**Darling so it goes**_  
_**Some things are meant to be**_

 

“...cardiac arrest…”

“… en route…”

“ETA?”

“9 minutes…”

 

_**Take my hand**_  
_**Take my whole life too**_

_As one calloused mechanic’s hand slid smoothly into the larger, calloused soldier’s hand, the world melted away ‘til only two remained. The soft glow of the late morning sun shone like a spot light on them as Tony slowly moved into an enveloping embrace of warmth and love that in all his years he never thought he’d ever have for himself. The room muted gold, as flecks of dust floated in the light. He looked to where his right hand was held gently in Steve’s left, at the vibranium ring that held pieces of the shrapnel pulled from his heart just a few years ago and the blue diamonds that matched the color and vibrancy of his retired, life-saving arc reactor, glinting as they slowly swayed to the music._

_The ring…_

_**For I can’t help falling in love with you**_

 

“We don’t have 9 minutes…”

“... fly faster Clint...”

 

_**Like a river flows**_  
_**Surely to the sea**_

_The ring, on the floor._

_**Darling so it goes**_  
_**Some things are meant to be**_

_My heart. Oh, God, it hurts. Can’t breathe… Steve… please…_

 

“Tony, can you hear me? Tony, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand…”

 

_**Take my hand**_  
_**Take my whole life too**_

 

“… called ahead, they’re expecting us…”

“… flat-lining…”

 

_Steve. It hurts. Please… Can’t breathe…_

 

“We’re losing him…”

“Tony, please, oh God, please… I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry, Sweetheart. Please, stay with me…”

 

_Steve…_

_**For I can’t help falling in love with you**_  
_**For I can’t help falling in love with you**_


	2. Paranormal Activity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our story begins...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place about a week before the events of Chapter 1 and incorporates the heart-breaking flashback Tony had.
> 
> No triggering content in this chapter.

**MONDAY, JANUARY 29th**

**‘For I can’t help falling in love with you…’**

As the song ended, Tony and Steve were hesitant to break apart and stayed standing in the middle of their bedroom floor in a tender embrace.

“JARVIS, play it again,” Tony said, slightly muffled with his face against his fiancé’s chest. His fiancé- wow, despite being engaged for 5 months already, Tony still felt like he needed to pinch himself every time he thought of the title and the amazing, sweet, charming, funny, HOT, sarcastic little shit of a super soldier that held it. In just one more month, he’d be his husband. He felt before he heard the rumble of laughter coming from the well-defined chest.

“If we listen to it again, you might get sick of it and then we’re back to square one of annoying the DJ by not having our song list finished.”

“Mmmmmm. I’d never get sick of this.”

Before JARVIS could “press” play, they were interrupted by the sound of Steve’s phone dinging with a text message.

“Now THAT I could get sick of. In fact I’m already sick of it. Horribly sick, it may be contagious. You might’ve caught it. Oh, no. You’re sick, can’t go in to work today.”

Another rumbling laugh as Steve made to break away. “It could be important, I should check it. Coulson mentioned in the last meeting, that YOU missed”- a pointed look was sent Tony’s way- “that SHIELD had some agents looking into intel on a possible HYDRA stronghold where they’ve been hoarding some Chitauri tech they managed to get their hands on.”

“Pshaw. If it’s that important, we’d both be summoned. It’s probably just Clint asking if you ate the last of the BBQ chips he was hiding.”

Another ding, from Tony’s phone this time.

At this, both Avengers hung their heads and sighed. Before Steve could leave arms reach, Tony pulled him back in for a quick kiss. They stepped apart again, but then Steve tugged Tony’s arm and pulled him back for another kiss, only this time Tony tried to take it deeper and dirtier. With a laugh, Steve tried to pry his lover, who was starting to imitate an octopus by tangling limbs every which way, away long enough to take a steadying breath before having to face the latest mission SHIELD would be asking for their assistance with. “We’ll definitely be continuing this later.”

“Work. Then, nookie,” Tony agreed with a wag of the eyebrows. He finally pulled himself away, but not before delivering a slap to Steve’s tight soldier booty.

They both read their respective devices and, sure enough, it was Coulson with directions to conference video call him with the others. As they headed to one of the tower’s many, but most used conference rooms, Steve couldn’t help but ask, “Are YOU the one who ate Clint’s potato chips? He already confronted me about it but I’m innocent. If they were sour cream and onion, though, I’d be all over them.”

“Of course, no one manages to hide food in MY tower- I know where all the best hiding places are.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The intel proved to be good and we managed to recover quite of a bit of Chitauri tech. Most wasn’t impressive, as much as that can be said about alien technology, but there were a few interesting pieces. It looks like they were trying to build something big with the little bits, but they didn’t get very far,” Coulson’s visage from the viewing screen informed them. All the Avengers were gathered- Tony, Steve, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Thor- and were placed randomly about the large meeting table.

“Any idea what they were building?” Natasha asked.

“Not yet, no. We’ve got some of our best scientists on it but it’s too soon to tell. Figured Stark and Banner could take a look as well and see if it’s anything to be concerned about.”

Tony scoffed. “I’ve seen some of your ‘best scientists’ work and we’re not getting any younger.” Steve sent a reproachful eyebrow his way, but he ignored it. It was well known that Tony didn’t hold SHIELD’s brightest minds in the highest regard. “Send all the info to my StarkPad and Bruce and I will give it a going over. Maybe if it looks interesting enough we’ll grace you with our presence to see it in person. If they were making a super powered waffle iron- as much as Thor would love that- we’ll bug out. Weapons of mass destruction get a personal visit by yours truly, though.”

Coulson didn’t look amused by the insinuation that his people were lacking but it was also understood that compared to the genius of Tony Stark, most people on the planet were lacking. “I’ll be sure to warn them ahead of time.”

“What about the fight that I’m sure they put up? Any of your people injured?” Steve cut in before the conversation could deteriorate. While none of the Avengers were fans of SHIELD, especially since they seemed to miss how much their organization was infiltrated by HYDRA before Steve, Sam, Natasha, and Fury put an end to it by leveling the Triskelion and dumping the Insight helicarriers into the Potomac, everyone liked Coulson. Probably the only reason they agreed to work hand-in-hand with SHIELD to weed out HYDRA and look for Loki’s scepter was because of Coulson being the newly appointed Director. Fury did well appointing him before having to fall off the map to pretend to be dead. Everyone was still slightly wary of Fury but everyone trusted Coulson’s judgement even though they were pretty sure that the two men were still in contact with each other.

“Only minor injuries on our end- the bunker wasn’t very heavily staffed or outfitted. They didn’t seem to be expecting us,” Coulson replied with an appreciative smile. Though, given his fanboy mentality when it came to Captain America, Tony was pretty sure that Steve could’ve called the man’s grandma a filthy whore and Coulson would still smile and thank him for his opinion. Tony thought it was hilarious. “We also managed a data dump and found a few more locations of interest, some may even be worthy of the Avengers themselves checking out. Based on some files that we’ve managed to decrypt from this location and some corroborating evidence that you uncovered during your last raid in Bucharest, they may lead us to the scepter.”

“What are the locations? Nat and I could put our ears to ground for some chatter and see if we can narrow it down even more,” Clint chimed in. 

“Andorra, Estonia, Sokovia, and Moldova are looking the most promising.”

“Ooooo, Andorra, that’s not too far from Monaco. Dibs on checking that location, the Gran Prix is coming up,” Tony brightened.

“Right, because that ended SO WELL for you last time,” Natasha said, with a perfectly-groomed, arched eyebrow.

“What are the odds of another genius Russian with the knowledge to build a reactor and a bone to pick with my dad showing up, NATASHALIE? Seriously, I just wanted a fucking vacation.”

“Ugh, knock on wood. Seriously, Stark, don’t jinx it. Given your dad’s propensity for making enemies- which YOU seem to have inherited- the odds are actually pretty damn high. Anyway, you’re getting a honeymoon in Paris next month, quit your bitching,” Clint felt the need to add.

“Language and chatter.” Steve had his Captain America mission face on.

“Were not on comms!”

A scowl from Steve shut Clint up and delighted Coulson. He loved Cap’s mission face.

Tony stuck his tongue out at Clint while Steve was focused on the rest of what Coulson was saying and then went back to picking through the information that Coulson or Maria Hill had already sent him on the recovered Chitauri tech before Clint could tattle on him. A firm grip on his shoulder from Steve told him he’d still seen it though and Clint looked slightly smug when he noticed. Worth it. Bruce made his way over to peer over Tony’s other shoulder that was not being taken up by Captain America’s death grip that was there as a reminder to behave himself “or else.” Sometimes Tony liked to push his luck anyway because it made for delightfully rough and tumble times in the bedroom after getting Steve particularly riled up. Tony suspected that he knew that he did it intentionally sometimes, but Steve definitely didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he was pretty sure that it was tactic Steve used himself- Captain America was, after all, a skillful tactician.

The rest of the meeting was a blur of voices discussing things that Tony couldn’t be bothered with now that he had his “job” to do, which was figuring out exactly what the hell the HYDRA goons had been trying to build. Funnily enough, it did look remarkably like a very large waffle iron but judging from the shotty photos (seriously, couldn’t SHIELD hire a decent photographer or at least use a StarkPhone to take the pics, it looked like they used a Nokia) the exposed circuitry looked more like something geared towards controlling smaller devices. Before the meeting even ended, Bruce and Tony had both come to the conclusion that it warranted a closer inspection and they wouldn’t be able to decipher what it was supposed to control without seeing the rest of the recovered tech.

As the conference call was winding down, Tony informed Coulson he and Bruce would be making a trip to the SHIELD facility to give the tech a more proper once-over to see if it was anything they needed to worry about and he sent a text to Happy informing him that they’d need a chauffeur. As much as Tony liked to drive, he’d rather have to time to brainstorm with the good Doctor about what information they could eek out of the ridiculously crappy photos and what arguments they could make to get the tech transferred to the tower. No way was he leaving these new play things with the SHIELD “scientists.”

Tony vaguely heard Steve mention something about maps and unmistakably heard Thor go on a small, but loud, speech about the possibility of finally being able to get his hands on his ill-tempered but sorely missed brother’s scepter, and finally they all filed out of the conference room. Tony calculated that he had enough time grab a coffee before Happy’s arrival as he fell into step next to Steve and Bruce heading in the direction of the communal kitchen and his precious, precious caffeine.

Tony was still staring at the screen of the StarkPad, trusting his fiancé to make sure he didn’t fall flat on his face when he heard Steve ask if they wanted him to drive.

“What?”

“Drive. To the facility.”

“Wait, you’re coming too?”

Tony heard Bruce let out a long-suffering sigh on his other side. Poor Brucie-Bear did that a lot when dealing with his science bro. “I knew they should’ve waited to send that info. You zoned out the entire second half of the meeting didn’t you?”

Steve just smiled and shook his head. He was used to having to repeat himself when Tony got himself into the science zone. As infuriating as it could be sometimes, it was also adorably endearing. “Coulson’s team recovered some maps from the HYDRA base, I want to take a look at them and see if they correlate with some routes that HYDRA had been known to take when moving equipment. Might help us narrow down the scepter’s location even quicker.”

Tony made a noise that could be best described as a “squee” and gave a slight shake of both his fists that was more than a little reminiscent of a gesture a teenage girl would make after finding out that Justin Bieber was coming to their town for a concert- though he would fervently deny it if ever accused of doing it. “Road trip with my favorite people!? Fantastic! I’ll text Happy and cancel the car. He’ll be, well, happy, that he doesn’t have to miss this week’s episode of ‘Downton Abby.’ But first, coffee.”  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony hated any and all SHIELD facilities. They were barren, depressing, and most areas smelled of sweaty foot stink for God-knows reason why. The helicarriers he’d been in in the past hadn’t been bad, especially the ill-used Insight helicarriers since he’d had a hand in designing them. It still really frosted him that they’d ended up being used for a nefarious HYDRA plot- they’d been a thing of beauty, at least as much beauty as Fury had allowed. Granted, he was only supposed to redesign the engines after getting an up-close look at them when the Avengers had first been assembled to fight Loki and his Chitauri minions; back when he’d almost been ground into gold titanium alloy dust when dislodging some debris that had gotten stuck. They’d also asked his opinion on some information arrays in the deck and conference rooms, so he managed to sneak some more stylish designs into the areas that agents actually frequent. He’d considered his duty to help the poor saps out, before he found out that half of them were HYDRA. Yeah, he was still sore about that.

“Seriously, are your design guys color-blind- why is everything here greyscale? You need more hotrod red in here. If it’ll make you feel more badass, you can call it ‘blood red.’ Freak your enemies out when you bring them in for interrogation, make ‘em think you’ll paint the walls with their innards if they don’t cooperate.” Tony was pretty sure he heard a snort of suppressed laughter from Bruce as he trailed behind him. Bruce was never the one at the head of the pack, always happy to bring up the rear and deflect attention from himself by hiding behind those in front and not even letting anyone know he was there. Tony didn’t mind because that left Bruce free to observe and form an opinion, which Tony held a very high regard of. It was also hilarious to see their enemies startle when Hulk leapt up from the back to defend his friends and comrades. Highlight of the fight.

Steve, on the other hand, was always at the front. Ready to be the first to meet the enemy head-on and defend those behind him. It also gave him the ability to turn around make sure that any troublemakers (Tony) could see the expression he wore that so clearly conveyed “please stop antagonizing the people who could kill you.” Kind of like the one he gave Tony right now. Again, Tony didn’t mind because, A) he usually just ignored “the look” anyway, and B) he had a very nice view of that super soldier ass. 

As they approached a room on the right, the agent leading them- a stern looking woman who was very pointedly ignoring Tony- slowed to a stop and used a magnetized security card to grant them access. The door unlocked with a little green light- hallelujah, there was color in here- and a beep. The agent opened the door to reveal a large room filled with filing cabinets, wooden tables that looked like they were left over from the days of the SSR, and large, rolled scrolls- maps. Another agent stood next to one of the largest table, looking over one of the maps and gave a smile as he glanced up.

“Ah, Captain Rogers, I’ve been expecting you. I have the recovered terrain and populace maps already set out for you, I’ll be happy to show you what we have.”

Steve turned to Tony and Bruce and gave them a nod. He leaned down to give Tony a chaste kiss and whisper in his ear, “don’t stress them out too much, SHIELD doesn’t have enough psychologists on hand to deal with every agent who comes across Hurricane Stark.”

“No promises,” Tony replied with a smirk, which earned him an eye-roll in return. Before the door closed behind Steve as he stepped into the “library”, Tony hollered “be sure to check out ‘Hogwarts: A History’ for a bit a light reading!” Tony didn’t get to hear the fond, exasperated sigh that came from his team leader.

As he and Bruce followed the agent, who Tony had noticed had embarrassedly looked away when Steve had kissed him, the rest of the way to the science labs, Tony could’ve sworn the place got even more dreary. Though, that could’ve been because he no longer had the pleasant view of Steve’s backside, which always made even the most drab of locations look sunnier.

Within about five minutes, they approached yet another door, this one a double to accommodate larger incoming and outgoing loads, with the same locking mechanism. Only this time when the agent swiped their badge a little red light blinked and it made a very unhappy sound. The agent swiped again, but again the little red light blinked. Instead of wasting any more time, the agent reached up to a phone that was hooked up to the adjacent wall and started speaking without dialing a number- a direct line to… someone. Gandalf, maybe? You shall not pass and all that jazz. After barely speaking any words, the agent had a momentary flicker of surprise in her eyes before going back to a calm, devoid-of-all-emotion demeanor, but it was enough to tell Tony that something unusual was going on. She hung up the phone and turned to Tony and Bruce, who at this point had already picked up on something being off and made his way up so he was even with Tony in case trouble occurred. They were a paranoid bunch, Bruce even more so when it came to SHIELD. Finding out that people who asked for your help also built a glass prison to house you if they pissed you off could do that to a guy.

Tony arched an eyebrow. “Is there a problem?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, but it appears you haven’t been granted access to the lab.”

“Excuse me? I was asked to help with this project by Director Coulson.”

“It appears it was Director Coulson who revoked your access. Dr. Banner will be allowed in but you do not have clearance.”

Tony took off his sunglasses. Yes, he was wearing them indoors and they probably didn’t help with his perception of the place but they came in handy at times like this when he needed to whisk them off in dramatic fashion to intimidate those who stood in his way. Usually it worked. Unfortunately, any balking that the agent might have made was negated by the presence of the Director himself as he stepped around the corner about 10 feet behind them in a hurried, yet calm and collected manner that only Coulson could pull off.

“Coulson, what hell!?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, I didn’t mean to waste your time in coming here. It appears there’s been a bit of a mix up and your lab clearance has been revoked. Give us a day or two and we’ll see what we can do. In the meantime, Dr. Banner is more than welcome to accompany me inside and he can get started-“

Tony put his arm in front of Bruce protectively. He trusted Coulson with his life, but not with Bruce’s. He doesn’t trust anyone but his teammates with Bruce- too many governments and scientists have been itching to get their hands on him and SHIELD didn’t have a stellar record. At the same time, Bruce cut in, “I’m not going in without Tony. It’s both of us or none of us.”

“Fuck. That. We drove 3 and a half hours to get here. In case you haven’t heard, I kind of have a lot on the plate being the main shareholder, face and R&D head of a multi-BILLION dollar company, superhero-ing, developing and maintaining tech for YOUR super-shady government agency and the Avengers and now you’re telling me that MAYBE you’ll be able to get me in at a later date after you asked for my help!? Not gonna fly with me. So here’s what YOU’RE gonna do. You’re going to get me and my science bro in to look at your little pet project RIGHT NOW or not at all. Not up for negotiation.” Tony delivered his speech with the cool, cutting precision of a well-versed and experienced CEO who was very good at getting what he wanted. Just because Tony found the CEO position boring and better pandered off to someone with more patience, didn’t mean he wasn’t good at it. 

Coulson heaved a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Give me a minute.” Then he swiped his badge, got the little green light, and disappeared inside the lab.

Looking back, Tony wished he’d turned around and left the way he came.


	3. The Exorcist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds out that his reputation precedes him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No triggering content in this chapter.

As Coulson disappeared through the double doors, Bruce remained at Tony’s side; though, it was more so to try to keep Tony calm and away from tackling the still-scornful looking SHIELD agent who remained with them. “Do you think we should text Steve and let him know what’s going on?” he asked quietly as he turned to him, in attempt to distract the angry engineer.

Tony gave a brief shake of his head and muttered, “Not yet. He has a job to do, too, going over those maps. If Coulson still refuses, we’ll get him involved. Coulson never could tell Cap no.” As it was, they had discussed on the ride to the facility how to convince SHIELD to relinquish the Chitauri tech to them so they could take it back to the tower and had already agreed to get Steve to ask if they put up a fight. It took some effort to convince him that he wouldn’t be taking advantage of Coulson’s Captain America hero-worship and he only reluctantly agreed after Tony and Bruce made several compelling arguments in favor of keeping the tech close by instead of 3 and a half hours away in D.C. 

Bruce was about to say something else when all three of them could hear a commotion coming from behind the double doors. The agent, who Tony dubbed “Miss Trunchbull” in his mind, moved closer to the door and kept a wary eye on her charges to make sure they didn’t try to intervene; as though they could get through the double doors with the little red light and unhappy sounds. Honestly, they probably could, but not without time to hack it or Hulk knocking it down. Instead, Tony and Bruce kept quiet in an attempt to hear what was being said in the lab, but it was too muffled pick up actual words. Whoever was speaking- yelling, honestly- sounded like a woman, and a very angry woman at that. They assumed that whenever there were pauses in the woman’s tirade, Coulson must’ve been on the other end of the argument though they couldn’t hear anything to confirm their theory. In the years they’ve been working with the man, no one on the team had ever heard him raise his voice. His level of snark and threats of tasering anyone were the best indicators of where he was on the frustration scale.

After about 5 minutes, the angry yelling grew slightly louder and they could finally pick up snippets of words, mostly things like ‘MY project’ and ‘asshole.’ Things grew quiet again as finally the door opened and Coulson and a very angry female SHIELD scientist stepped out. Tony started at her shoes and worked his eyes up as he took stock of the woman to see if she was a threat. By the time he reached her eyes, he could tell that she took his appraisal of her the wrong way- most people did, which didn’t help his reputation as a notorious womanizer, but he never let it bother him. It was best that people assumed he was thinking of sex when in truth he could tell a lot about people, including their weaknesses, within the first few moments of meeting them. It helped to be underestimated in his line of work.

The scientist was an average looking but pretty woman about his age, if the slightly greying in her hair and faint hints of frown lines were any indication. She wore kitten heels, a skirt, and a lab coat over a button down blouse- though Tony wasn’t about to discount her fighting abilities based on her attire. He’d seen Natasha take down men twice her size with graceful maneuvers while dressed in much more constricting clothes and sky-high stilettos; however that could’ve been more of a Natasha thing than a SHIELD agent thing. The lab coat was form fitting enough on her thin figure that he should’ve been able to see any suspicious gun-shaped lumps, but there were none. While that didn’t mean she wasn’t armed, it did mean he stood a greater chance of her needing to be within arms-reach to do any actual damage. He noticed her loosely pulled up mousy, brown hair and slightly down-turned green eyes that burned bright with fury much like Bruce’s when he’s struggling to keep Jolly Green from making an appearance. A light spattering of freckles across her cheeks and birthmark across the bridge of her nose-

Tony’s heart stuttered to a stop and he felt his stomach drop.

_That birthmark…_

Any sense of self-preservation must’ve gone through the floor with his stomach as the woman, with a heated glare, stalked quickly towards them and away from the lab. Despite the hallway being wide enough to walk past while maintaining several feet of distance between them, the scientist quite brusquely huffed and barreled her shoulder into Tony’s as she quickly made her exit. So much for staying out of arms-reach; if she’d had a close-quarters weapon on her, she could’ve easily done some damage as she passed. Tony was too dumbstruck to even process that he ran the risk of being gutted by a well-concealed knife by allowing himself to be in such close proximity to the furious agent.

Tony heard Coulson give a slight cough but he didn’t look at him and instead let his gaze stay on the scientist as she walked the rest of the hallway and turned the corner. Even after she was out of eyesight, he kept staring in the direction that she had departed. 

Tony felt his heart rate quicken and a broke out into a cold sweat, and couldn’t understand why he had such a visceral reaction to her. Less than 5 seconds in her presence and he felt the beginnings of an anxiety attack.

Coulson coughed again and he felt Bruce give a slight tug on his elbow. “Hey, Tony, are you alright?”

Tony finally turned his attention from the end of the hallway and gave his science bro what he hoped was a reassuring smile, though it felt more like a grimace.

“My apologies for Agent Serafin, she’s somewhat protective of her work. I’m sure you can empathize,” Coulson stated, forcing Tony’s attention on him.

Tony didn’t trust himself to speak, so he just nodded to show no hard feelings. As long as you didn’t count mounting anxiety as a ‘hard feeling.’

“Shall we, then? I’ll show you to the workstations we’ve set up with our new acquisitions.” Coulson opened the doors again with another swipe and stepped through, nodding at Tour Guide Trunchbull in dismissal. Tony and Bruce followed, the latter still feeling as though he wanted to crawl out of his skin and not being able to pin point why.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Director Coulson went over everything they were seeing, Tony remained silent, only occasionally picking something up to look more closely at it and absently flipping through several papers from a nearby file folder. Bruce probably knew something was wrong by his lack of comments on SHIELD not jumping on the “being green” bandwagon and still using that archaic method of filing with, ugh, paper. However, Tony couldn’t find it in himself to snark when he was too busy trying to keep his breathing under control and he desperately hoped Bruce didn’t pick up on that, too. He couldn’t even get himself excited over the ‘waffle iron’ that HYDRA had been working on. He only perked up and seemed to be able to join the conversation when he heard Coulson mention Agent Serafin’s name. “She’s the lead scientist on this?”

“Yes, she believes that the device is related to some other tech we recovered on a previous raid a few months ago. You said earlier that you think this-“ pointing to the ‘waffle iron’- “is a remote control. She agrees and believes that is has to do with these devices over here.” Coulson led them to a rolling tray with what looked like alien blue tooth headphones, the kind that hang off the back the wearer’s neck. 

“I’m guessing these aren’t for listening to your tunes while you jog,” Bruce said, looking to see if he got Tony to crack a smile. He didn’t.

“Agent Serafin believes them to be containment devices.”

“Containment? Like control collars?”

“Yes, though we’re not certain what type of individual they were intended for. Her theory is that they’re meant to control enhanced people. We don’t exactly have willing volunteers to try it out.”

Tony finally spoke up, “since when has that stopped SHIELD?”

Coulson narrowed his eyes. “Since we’re no longer a front for HYDRA. Believe it or not, Mr. Stark, we’re not the bad guys.” 

Tony went back to looking at the notes on the papers scattered on the table. He noticed the writing was feminine and was what covered the majority of the considerable stack the papers made up. He couldn’t help himself and asked, “So what was that all about anyway? She seems competent enough and knows this project better than anyone. Why remove her from the room before I could enter? What about her made you revoke my clearance to begin with?”

Bruce was silent as he also turned his curious gaze to the Director.

“I’m not the one to ask. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you two to do what you do. If you have any more questions, you know where my office is.” Coulson turned on his heels and left through the double doors without a backward glance.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three hours later, Steve found Bruce and Tony still in the lab taking apart the control collars and comparing what they found to Agent Serafin’s notes. Both were pleasantly surprised to find the notes to be very thorough and that they came to the same conclusions that she had. It was refreshing to find someone who actually knew what they were doing in SHIELD’s science division. If it wasn’t for her obvious distaste of Tony- which neither blamed her, they’d be mad if they were kicked out of their own labs as well- they probably would’ve been very happy to collaborate with her in the future. 

“You two ready to head out? It’s getting late- as it is, we won’t be getting back until almost 10pm,” Steve said, as he bent down to give Tony a quick kiss on the crown of his head. Tony sat in one of the rolling chairs at the cluttered workstation, using a magnifying glass to inspect the human/Chitauri hybrid circuitry. He left the handling of the small screwdrivers to dismantle the tech to Bruce since he still had a slight tremor that he was trying to hide after his earlier anxiety flare up. 

“We’ll never be done, so might as well stop now and have a chat with Coulson about seeing if we can take this with us.” Tony, not settled with a quick peck on the top of the head and needing his love’s comfort, stood up and leaned into Steve’s chest, tilting his face up for a proper kiss.

Steve obliged and wrapped his arms around Tony for a brief hug. His eyebrows knit in concern when he felt the slight trembling that even now was still quaking his smaller frame. “Hey, are you ok? You’re shaking.”

“Hmm? I’m fine, just chilly. This lab is freezing.” Tony leaned out of his embrace and began putting the items on the desk in some semblance of order to avoid looking Steve in the eye. He was a decent liar- had to be after a lifetime of hiding his real self from the soul-sucking media- but after all these years Steve knew his tells.

Steve wasn’t buying it and looked to Bruce, who just shrugged. Obviously, Bruce knew about what had happened earlier, but he couldn’t figure out why it would upset his friend so badly.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trio made their way to Coulson’s office and, as they approached, the science bros were hit by a sense of déjà vu. Sure enough, coming through the closed door were sounds of a familiar argument and a very familiar voice. His PA- Tony didn’t even know SHIELD used personal assistants- buzzed in to let the Director know that there were Avengers waiting to speak with him. As soon as the message was sent, they could hear Agent Serafin demand to be able to speak with “fucking Stark.” Steve furrowed his brows and sent a questioning glance at Tony, who shrugged and averted his gaze. He was just happy that the sound of her voice didn’t send him into another fit. Tony was torn- on one hand, he wanted to confront her so he could figure out what it was about her that rubbed him the wrong way, but on the other hand, he wanted nothing more than to speed walk (Tony Stark didn’t run unless something with teeth was chasing him) out of the facility and put as much distance between himself and the furious agent as he possibly could. Fight or flight at its finest.

Two minutes later, the door opened revealing Coulson who gestured for them to come inside. Tony began to sweat- Agent Serafin apparently got her wish to confront him.

They followed the Director inside, who took his seat behind his large desk and gestured to the spot near the window where she standing with her hands on her hips. “Captain Rogers, Dr. Banner, Mr. Stark- this is Agent Angela Serafin. You two met her earlier but we didn’t get a chance to properly introduce you.”

“Ma’am.” Steve made a move to shake her hand, but he was pointedly ignored as she glared at Tony. Steve awkwardly put his hand back to his side and looked to his fiancé in askance, already figuring out that something had happened. Tony avoided his eyes again and instead moved to sit down in one of the three chairs in front of Coulson’s desk. Steve and Bruce took the other two, but it was obvious Steve’s 1940s sensibilities were pained at the thought of taking a seat while a lady remained standing. Steve cleared his throat. “What’s going on here?”

Before Agent Serafin had a chance to fire off the tirade she obviously was eager let loose, Coulson spoke up and said, “I’m assuming you want to take the recovered tech with you back to New York. Agent Serafin is the head of our science division and the lead scientist assigned to the project. She hesitant to let it leave since she’s put months of work into it. However, I am inclined to let you have it given the nature of the findings.”

“What nature would that be?”

Bruce took the lead with the science talk since Tony remained silent. “We believe they’re control collars, meant to contain enhanced individuals. Which means HYDRA could be illegally experimenting on people to create more enhanced. It could also be that they’re meant to contain enhanced threats against HYDRA, such as you and me. Agent Serafin may have the most experience with these devices, but Tony and I have the most experience reverse engineering Chitauri tech which is the basis of these devices. Not to mention, that while I trust Coulson and Hill, I don’t think I feel comfortable leaving control collars meant to restrain people like ME with an agency that had a pest problem with HYDRA in the recent past.”

Agent Serafin stepped forward, turning her glare from Tony to Bruce. “Are you insinuating that I’m HYDRA? That’s a pretty serious accusation to make, Dr. Banner. I’ll have you know, my father worked for SHIELD and before that the SSR to try to wipe that Nazi scum off the face of the planet. How dare you! I-“ 

Coulson cut her off with a raise of his hand in a placating gesture. “No one is insinuating anything about you in particular, but I understand their hesitance to leave it here with us.”

“We can work together,” Tony cut in. He dared to look at her for the first time since entering the room and immediately regretted it. While not as overwhelming as it had been the first time, he still felt a wave of anxiety wash over him when he saw her face. “Your notes on these devices are impressive, and we could-“

“That’s not an option.”

Four pairs of eyes riveted to Coulson, while Tony and Agent Serafin both asked, “Why not!?” Tony looked at her in surprise as she continued on, asking, “what the hell is it about this asshole-“ he pursed his lips at that- “that makes it alright to kick me out my own lab so he can grace it with his presence?”

Coulson sighed. “There’s a note in your file that clearly states that for whatever reason you and Mr. Stark are not to work together. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until I was preparing the clearances this afternoon that I made the discovery after our computer system denied granting the clearance to him based solely on the fact that you would be in the same lab, working on the same project, at the same time. By the time I found out, they would’ve already been most of the way here and it was too late to call to cancel until it could be rescheduled. The best I could do was deny access to Agent Hnatko’s (Trunchbull, Tony’s mind supplied) key card to keep Mr. Stark out of the lab until it could be rectified.”

At this point, everyone looked confused. 

“Why the hell is there a note that we’re not to work together? Obviously I know who he is, everyone does, but I’ve never met him before in my life.”

“I don’t know. The note was made by Director Fury and can’t be amended. I tried to but I keep getting denied.”

Tony’s choked back a laugh. “You’re the DIRECTOR- you have the highest security clearance in this entire agency. How can you be denied making an amendment to an agent’s file?”

“I don’t know,” Coulson gestured his confusion with his hands, “I’ve never had that happen before.”

There was a tense silence. Tony interrupted it by asking, “Why don’t you ask him?”

Coulson leveled a controlled, blank stare at him.

“Oh, puh-lease. It’s no secret in SHIELD that he’s still alive now that HYDRA has been weeded out- the farce is mostly still going to keep anyone who hasn’t been outed in Washington from finding out- and it’s no secret amongst us that you’re still in contact with him. Call him.”

Coulson looked to the other three in the room and saw their agreement with Tony on their faces. He sighed- again. He does that quite a bit when dealing with this lot. He picked up the phone and dialed a number from memory, then pushed the speakerphone button so they could all hear. As he dialed, he looked to Agent Serafin and said, “Not a word.”

There was no mistaking the voice the answered after the second ring. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Director?” Straight to the point was always Nick Fury’s style. “Judging by the echo, I’d say this isn’t a private conversation.” He also never missed a beat. 

“Correct, sir. I have Tony Stark here in my office, as well as Rogers and Banner. They’re investigating some tech we’ve acquired but we’ve hit a snag. It seems Mr. Stark and our lead scientist can’t be in the same room together, by your orders. Anything we should be aware of?”

The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. Fury seemed to recovery quickly enough, though. “I’m guessing we’re talking about Angela Serafin.”

“Yes, sir. We’ve been trying to come to an agreement but the restriction on clearances has caused some issues.”

Tony got sick of the pleasantries. They had a long drive back to the tower and he was eager to put whatever was going on behind him and climb into bed with his favorite, soft space heater. He was also wanted to find out what the hell was going on with this woman who set off all his warning bells despite never having met her before. The agent herself wasn’t threatening- he didn’t expect her to outright attack him. But there was something about seeing her that made him feel like he was in danger. It didn’t make sense. He was honestly ok with taking the tech back to the tower and pissing off the agent, but there was something needling at the back of his mind. Like there was something he forgot, but with his eidetic memory forgetting things wasn’t something that happened often. It was REALLY starting to bother him and he was beginning to think that maybe Nick Fury had the answer, if the order to keep them apart was any indication. “What gives, Fury? I’m finally trying to play well with others and you’re kicking kids out of the sand box. That’s not very team player of you.”

“Stark.”

Tony arched his eyebrow, though he knew the man on the other end of the line couldn’t see it. Fury had his ways, though, and most likely knew exactly what kind of face he was making.

“I thought that much would be obvious,” Fury continued. “Agent Serafin is a valuable asset to SHIELD. She came to us from the FBI shortly after you outed yourself as Iron Man. Her intelligence could give you a run for your money and given her family’s history with SHIELD, she’s loyal. I was also a friend of her father’s back when he was an agent.”

“For an ‘obvious’ answer, that was not helpful in the slightest.”

“I suspected she’d end up working with you at some point, despite your initial protests to being part of our- what did you call it? Oh yes, our ‘super-secret boy band.’ I didn’t want to run the risk of her being run off by your habit of chasing anything with a skirt.”

Tony’s jaw dropped. “EXCUSE me!? How dare y-”

Fury didn’t let him finish. “I was also contacted by her father after she joined us. He figured that after your ‘I am Iron Man’ speech that we’d be working with you. He didn’t like the idea of his daughter working with a notorious man-whore, so I promised him that I’d make sure you never crossed paths.”

The room was silent enough that you could hear a pin drop. Steve saw the moment the anger flashed in his lover’s eyes and reached over to put a calming hand on his shoulder, but Tony violently shrugged it off and stood up to approach the phone on the desk, his body shaking with unbridled fury. “Oh, FUCK. YOU. NICK.”

“Always a pleasure hearing from you, Phil,” Fury cut him off again and hung up.


	4. Let the Right One In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heated office meeting and a strange dream...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No triggering content in this chapter.

As the line went dead, no one in the room seemed to move or breathe. Coulson, Bruce, and Steve were shocked and Tony was angry at Fury’s reasoning for the note in Agent Serafin’s file. While Tony had had a reputation in his younger days, all four knew that Tony had been loyal and monogamous while in relationships, first with Pepper and then Steve. Even between the two, after he and Pepper had broken up but before Steve and Tony finally got their heads out of their asses and realized that they were pining over each other, Tony hadn’t had any consorts. It seemed to be a trend that while Tony was in love, even before the beginning of a relationship, he didn’t look for empty sex. The last person he slept with who wasn’t Pepper or Steve was Christine Everhardt, back in 2008. Tony and Pepper didn’t start dating until almost a year later after the disaster that was the last Stark Expo. Fury would know this.

Unfortunately, given Tony’s habit of flirting with everyone and everything simply for the sake of keeping up appearances and out of habit, most people who weren’t in Tony’s inner circle didn’t know that Tony was actually a very loyal lover.

Agent Serafin, who most definitely was NOT part of that inner circle and who believed the lies spread by the media, was silenced by her anger at Tony. The thought that she was going to lose custody of her research because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants was enough to make her see red. 

Steve was the first to move as he stood up to comfort Tony, who was very visibly upset by Fury labeling him a ‘man-whore.’ The hand on his shoulder that moved to pull him into a hug seemed to finally loosen Tony’s tongue as he started sputtering and muttering, “How dare he?” over and over.

This was enough to set Agent Serafin off as she gave a dark laugh and arched her eyebrow with a high-pitched, “REALLY?” She huffed. “You’re really surprised by that? You kind of have a well-earned reputation, Stark.”

Steve started in with a forceful, “Enough.”

She was not deterred. “No, seriously, if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m now going to lose my research to a playboy, I’d be happy to point out that the note is well-founded. You practically eye-fucked me as soon as I stepped out of the lab.”

Tony fumed and stepped away from Steve to approach the agent, despite the ball of anxiety pooling in his stomach as he neared her. Anger trumps fear, any day. “Call me paranoid. I was looking for suspicious, weapon-shaped bumps.”

“Oh please, you can’t fool me. Those were NOT the kind of ‘bumps’ you were interested in.”

“I’m not that kind of guy anymore.”

“Fury called it- once a man-whore, always a man-whore.”

Tony growled low in his throat and at this point, fearing an altercation, Coulson and Bruce both stood up and got between the two scientists. Coulson stood in front of Agent Serafin while Bruce got in front of Tony, both trying to calm them down. Steve stood behind Tony, holding him back. Bruce and Steve didn’t honestly expect Tony to try to go after the woman, but they felt that breaking eye contact between the two was the best way to de-escalate the situation.

Steve managed to pull Tony towards the door and bring him in front of him, placing himself between Tony and the rest of the room. He called over his shoulder, “We’re going out to the car, it’s time we head home. Bruce, I trust you to be able to secure the HYDRA/Chitauri tech and bring it with you. I’m sure Director Coulson could round up some agents to help if there’s too much to carry in one trip.”

Bruce nodded and rubbed a hand over his tired face. 

The ‘road trip’ Tony had been so excited for ended up not being as much fun they had expected.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tony sat stone-faced in the front passenger seat of the Escalade they had driven in from the tower. While they’d normally take one his sports cars for a trip to SHIELD, they had agreed to drive one of the bigger vehicles since the photos they’d received this morning didn’t give much of an idea of the size of what they’d been hoping to be able to bring home with them. He liked to plan ahead when it came to the possibility of raiding SHIELD’s play things. Earlier, on the drive down to D.C., Tony had bemoaned the excessively spacious interior. He’d sat in the back with Bruce so they could continue going over the data and photos from Coulson on his StarkPad, but he’d loudly complained several times that Steve felt ‘too far away’ as he played chauffeur. It eventually grated on his companions nerves enough that Bruce had declared the end of science time after pulling over to hit Starbucks and had insisted Tony leave him alone in the back to get some sleep and Tony could finally sit in the front within hand-holding distance of Steve. Tony pouted at the declaration of no more science-ing but quickly melted as soon as Steve reached over with an open palm and a pout of his own.

As he sat waiting for Bruce and Maria Hill to finish loading the few boxes containing all the tech and the data collected on it, and watching Steve as he stood off to the side and out of ear-shot discussing something with Coulson, he was relieved they’d brought such a large vehicle. The large seat obscured him from view and served as a barrier between him and Bruce, who Tony knew would be shooting furtive, worried glances in his direction. The tinted windows hid him from Steve, who was less than discreet with his concerned looks towards the SUV.

Tony sighed and reached over to turn up the flow of hot air coming from the dash and turned up the seat heater from the mild 2 to more toasty 4. He was reminded by the nasty nip in the air coming the large open hatch at the back of the vehicle why road trips in late January are a lot less fun than during the summer months. Why on Earth Steve had been dead-set on a honeymoon in Paris, where it would still be cold in the Northern Hemisphere in early March was beyond him. Honeymooning in one of the most romantic cities in the world is ridiculously appealing, though. Steve had argued that instead of changing the venue, they should change the date to a warmer month, but Tony was as steadfast with the date as Steve was with their honeymoon locale. Six months was a reasonable enough time to get everything planned while still not having his patience wear thin while waiting. He’d waited long enough to make the super soldier his and they lived risky lives. Paris in late winter/early spring it was. Maybe they’d get lucky and there’d be an early heat-wave. Steve was excited about the prospect of the trees budding and his artist’s fingers were itching to draw Paris in the early stages of a spring blossom. He’d never deny Steve that opportunity.

Tony’s meandering thoughts on his coming nuptials were cut short with the slam of the back hatch and the opening of one of the side doors as Bruce climbed in, rubbing his hands together to warm them. Tony felt a bit bad that he hadn’t helped load, but the tremor he felt in his hands that had nothing to do with the cold, reminded him of why handling irreplaceable alien technology in his current state was a bad idea. He glanced back at Bruce to apologize for his lack of assistance, but the sorry smile Bruce gave him as he turned around made the words die on his throat. He nodded and went back to staring out the window at Steve and Coulson, who’d been joined by Hill. Judging by how everyone was starting to angle their feet away from each other told Tony the conversation was winding down and Steve would be joining them shortly to start the long, awkward ride home. He loved Steve, but he had this annoying habit of wanting to talk about feelings, usually when it was the last thing that Tony wanted. He’d gotten better over the years, since Pepper. He often blamed his inability to maintain that relationship on his desire to not talk about things. Granted, the fact that the poor woman- a very squishy, normal human being, NOT a hardy super soldier- kept getting put into harm’s way simply by association with Tony, with IRON MAN, was most definitely another one of the very big nails in the coffin of that relationship. 

As he saw his love approach the driver side of the vehicle, Tony readied himself for THE TALK.

Steve opened the door and climbed inside, buckling his seat belt. He gave a long, loving look at Tony, who braced himself. Steve turned his attention to shifting the huge SUV into drive and focused on pulling out of the underground SHIELD compound and safely onto the mostly deserted highway. Finally able to allow himself the slight distraction of the man beside him, Steve smiled at Tony and simply held out his hand, who gratefully took it into his own. As he felt his lover calmly rub his palm with his thumb and toy with the ring that Tony wore on his own left hand, he melted into the seat, relaxing for the first time since the set of stupid double doors blinked the little red light. The tremors ceased, his shoulders drooped, and his eyes drifted shut of their own. Yes, the talk was still going to happen but it was no longer THE TALK and Steve would wait to have until Tony was ready. 

This. This right here was why he loved him. Forever and Always.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

_The crunch of snow under feet._

_A high-pitched creak as the swings on a small swing set swung back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth._

_Laughter, dainty and sweet. Children._

_Swinging back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth._

_“Smile! Say cheese!”_

_Bright sun._

_“Cheeeeeeese!”_

_Sweet laughter._

_The thwick, thwick, thwick, thwick, thwick of a jump rope glancing of the pavement…_

_Swinging back and forth. Back and forth._

_Thwick. Thwick. Thwick. Thwick._

_“Annnnnthonnnny…”_

_A blue dress._

 

“Tony.”

 

_A birthmark._

 

“Tony, wake up, Sweetheart, we’re home.”

 

_Thwick. Thwick. Thwick._

 

The SLAM! of a car door.

Tony shot up in his seat as he startled awake. Steve had his hand on his shoulder where he was gently shaking him, trying to wake him where he’d fallen asleep on the car ride home; however, instead of looking at Tony, he was sending a disdainful look at Bruce who was standing outside the Escalade with a sheepish look on his face. 

“Oops.”

Tony snorted a laugh, the dream already being rubbed from this eyes by the finger pads of his right hand. “It’s all good Brucie-Bear, I’ll just be sure to rouse you some unexpected morning with an air horn.” 

Now it was Steve’s turn to snort as he climbed out. “I’m sure the Other Guy would just LOVE that. Remember, Tony, no pranks that endanger the structural integrity of the tower.”

“Don’t worry about that, Steve. It’s an empty threat. Pulling a prank in the morning would require Tony to ACTUALLY be awake in the morning.” 

Tony clasped his chest in fake hurt as he struggled to unbuckle his belt while still in a sleepy haze. “You wound me, Bruce. Oh ye of little faith, I’ll get you back.”

“Says the man who is currently being bested by a seat belt.”

Steve shook his head and leaned back into the car over the driver seat and the consul to reach the latch and free Tony, who repaid him with a wet kiss to the cheek and a sickly sweet, “My hero!” Tony then reached for the handle, only to jar his hand and shoulder when the door wouldn’t budge due to lock still being engaged.

Bruce nearly doubled over in laughter. “Iron Man, ladies and gentlemen.”

“Steeeeeeeve. Bruce is picking on me. Don’t pick on me, child safety measures could be tricky bastards. Tell him, Steve.”

“It’s true,” Steve grunted, as he reached farther over the consul to reach the locking mechanism on the door. “I’ve also seen him struggle with lids to medicine bottles.”

Bruce laughed even harder at the dramatic betrayal on Tony’s face.

“In my defense, pushing AND turning the lid when you’re battling a migraine is more difficult than it sounds.”

“Good thing you have a hero to save the day,” Steve said, as took advantage of his close proximity and planted a light kiss on his nose.

“Ugh,” Bruce groaned, “this turned hilarious to sickly sweet in the bat of an eye. Too much sugar for me this late at night, I’m heading to bed.” He walked another four steps before groaning even more loudly, throwing his head back, shaking his hands at the floor. Hulk may get the reputation for having flair, but never let it be said that Bruce Banner wasn’t capable of being a dramatic little shit. “The stuff. In the back. Ugh.”

Tony placed another kiss on Steve’s cheek before FINALLY climbing out of the car that all of sudden seemed to spite him. He gestured to the back and said, “Leave it. This is our private garage, it’s secure. We can recruit the rest of the troops at a less ungodly hour to help.”

“Thank, God. I need sleep,” Bruce mumbled as he made his way to elevator. 

Steve and Tony shut their respective doors, the blonde shaking his head as though in wonder of how he got stuck with these man-children as his family, and followed the grumpy scientist. Bruce was at least kind enough to hold the sliding, automated door for them. Though, that may have been more so JARVIS. 

“Good evening, sirs, and welcome home. It’s safe to assume that you wish to go to your respective floors.”

“You know it, J. Take us to bed.”

They rode up the first few floors in tired silence before Tony smirked, turning to his fiancé and sidling up to him as seductively as he could manage in his half-asleep state. “You think getting it on in the elevator right now would be sufficient payback for his rude wake-up call? He woke me up, we give him nightmares, all’s fair.”

Steve chuckled and pulled Tony closer with a palm on his ass, delivering a thorough kiss as well.

“JARVIS, my floor. Now.” When the doors opened to Bruce’s floor, he practically sprinted out of the elevator and to his bedroom.

“Night Brucie-Bear! Sweet dreams!”

A rude gesture thrown over his shoulder was Bruce’s response as the doors closed behind him on his fearless team leader’s playful laughter.


	5. The Blair Witch Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets emotional whiplash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I'm starting to realize that this story is going to be alot longer than I initially thought. Not that that's a bad thing, but it does mean that it's taking a bit longer to get to the actual "horror" part of the story than I initially planned. 
> 
> Still no triggering content, though the dream sequences are starting to get a bit disturbing.
> 
> There's a lil bit of smut in this chapter! Fairly mild, but it's there. I'm not anticipating alot of smut in this story, so get it while you can folks.
> 
> This story is not beta'd. All mistakes are my own.

**TUESDAY, JANUARY 30th**

_1… 2…_

_Giggling…_

_“Come on, Anthony! We gotta hide!”_

_3… 4…_

_“You kids playing hide ‘n seek?”_

_Green eyes and a birthmark._

_A small hand in his._

_5… 6…_

_The smell of fresh-cut grass and gasoline._

_“That’s my favorite game. I know a few good hiding spots.”_

_7… 8…_

_“But you have to promise not to tell anyone…”_

_Darkness; the smell of damp, dirty wool blankets…_

_9… 10…_

_“Ready or not, here I come!”_

_“I don’t want to play anymore…”_

_Nails on a chalkboard._

 

Tony woke with a start, his heart pounding in his chest and blood pulsing in his ears. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust and to remember where he was. He could feel the pull of nausea on his stomach stretching up to the back of his throat as he put a hand over his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut to try to suppress it. With his eyes shut, he focused on what he could feel to try to calm himself and breathed deeply through his nose. The feel of the expensive, high thread-count sheets pulled up to his underarms; the heat of the front of Steve’s body nestled close to his back and the weight of his arm where it wrapped gently, but securely, around Tony’s waist. He could feel the moist warmth of Steve’s breath against his neck where he had nuzzled his face in. 

It wasn’t working, he could still feel the burn of stomach acid travelling up his chest.

Tony opened his eyes, looking down at the tangle of limbs that he and his lover became every night. Fortunately, it seemed the only part of Steve he’d have to move to wiggle himself free of was his arm; their legs not yet jumbled together. They must not have been asleep for very long. 

He slowly removed Steve’s arm from his waist and slithered out from under the sheets. While holding the well-muscled appendage aloft, he grabbed an extra pillow and laid it lengthwise against Steve’s still-sleeping form and draped his arm across it for him to clutch. He didn’t think he’d be making it back to bed tonight, not with the weird dream still in his mind and the nausea fighting to come up and out; having something to hold would help make sure Steve stayed sleeping. 

Tony tip-toed into the adjacent bathroom, waiting until the door was securely shut before whispering, “JARVIS, lights to 50%.” As the room brightened, he grabbed a towel from the rack and wedged it against the bottom of the door to block the light from showing through the crack between it and the floor, stopping it from making its way into the bedroom.

He turned on the sink, splashed some cool water on his face and looked into the mirror, shocked to find he looked so pale. The nausea still burned his throat, so he grabbed a drinking glass he kept on the counter top, filled it halfway and drank a few sips, hoping to settle his stomach. If anything, it made it worse. He quickly went to the toilet and lifted the seat before emptying his stomach contents. The left-over spaghetti Steve had insisted they eat as a late supper before they finally went to bed last night (“We haven’t had anything since lunch, Tony, and coffee does NOT count as a meal”) making an encore appearance. Tony tried to be as quiet as possible while being sick, which is no easy feat, worried that if Steve woke up he’d start mother-hening him and then BOTH of them would be up all night. Steve needed his sleep, Tony knew he was exhausted after doing all 6 hours of the driving yesterday, which he felt bad about. He had planned to offer to be the driver on the way home, but then all that nonsense at SHIELD had rattled him.

“Sir, would you like me to call someone for assistance?” JARVIS asked quietly, though the AI probably already knew the answer. It was most likely to be the same answer he always received.

Tony continued whispering, “Not necessary, J. Probably just the spaghetti not sitting right with me. Do I have a fever?”

“My sensors indicate a slight elevation in body temperature, but not enough to qualify as a fever. Your heart rate and respiratory rates are both elevated, as well, suggesting an anxiety attack resulting from a nightmare. While the fore-mentioned responses are not unusual, I am concerned with the added symptom of vomiting and suggest seeking medical attention if it doesn’t ease up shortly.”

“No medical needed, J. Feeling better already. Better out than in.” 

He was sitting on the floor between the counter cabinets and the toilet and decided to rest his head against the cool wood, take a few deep breaths, and close his eyes. Now that the offending pasta was out of his system he hoped his stomach would settle and he’d feel better enough to maybe make it out of the bathroom. Closing his eyes seemed to be a mistake though, as his mind played over the dream and his heart rate increased again.

“J, what time is it?”

“2:57 am. You were asleep for approximately 1 hour and 47 minutes before you woke up 21 minutes ago.”

Tony gave a derisive laugh, “That’s a new record for me, I think. No wonder I feel like an extra on ‘The Walking Dead.’ That nap I took in the car is going to have to tide me over for the day, I’m afraid. Is Steve still asleep? I didn’t wake him up, did I?”

“No, Sir, he is in deep REM sleep and gives no indication of waking.”

He stood up and turned the water back on. “Good. JARVIS, wake up the bots and put DUM-E on coffee duty. Keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn’t add any motor oil again. I’m gonna brush my teeth, throw on some shoes and head down to the garage to start bringing boxes up to the lab.”

JARVIS paused as though he would sigh if he had the ability to do so. “As you wish, Sir.”  
\----------

A little over four hours later, Tony heard the tell-tale swish of his lab door open and looked over to see Steve making his way over the table he was seated at with two cups of coffee in his hands. “Morning, handsome. Ooo, you brought me more nectar of the Gods. You’re a life-saver, DUM-E’s concoction has an ominous metallic taste to it though JARVIS assures me it shouldn’t be toxic.”

Steve set the mugs down on the table, Tony already knowing that the one shaped like the Iron Man helmet was his and reaching to grab it.

“Figured you’d need it,” he bent down to give the brunette a thorough kiss, “since JARVIS told me you barely got any sleep last night.”

“Traitor,” Tony threw out, glancing up to the ceiling at one of JARVIS’ mounted cameras as he sipped his favorite beverage.

“You should’ve woken me up, he said you had a nightmare and got sick.”

“One, it was just supper revolting. No fever, no body aches. Told you I should’ve gone to bed without eating. Two, I didn’t have a nightmare. Just a weird dream is all- no caves, no wormholes. Just an average, makes-no-sense-upon-waking, dream and I barely remember it. If it’d been that bad, I would’ve woken you, honest. But there was no sense in both of us being sleep-deprived. I handle it better than you do, my body’s used to functioning after days with no shut-eye.”

“That isn’t a good thing, Tony.” Steve gave him a full sweep of his eyes from the top of his head to the soles of his feet and apparently was satisfied enough that he wasn’t downplaying what had happened last night. Tony had caught his reflection in the lab’s bathroom mirror about a half an hour ago and knew that while he was tinkering away with the tech he’d unloaded from the Escalade that his color had returned and looked no worse for wear, except for some dark-ish circles under his eyes. Honestly, he’s looked a lot worse.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Mom.”

Steve chuckled and looked around at the table tops that were covered with very alien-looking pieces. “I take it you don’t need the team’s help unloading, then?”

“Nope,” Tony said, popping the ‘p.’ “Got it covered.” He glanced up at Steve and could see that he was hesitating by the way he was aimlessly rapping the knuckles of his coffee-less hand lightly against the table top, obviously wanting to discuss something and dreading bringing it up. “Spill, Cap. You look like someone peed in your Wheaties and are trying to figure out who.”

Steve wrinkled his nose at the mental image, but instead of expressing his disgust he pulled up another rolling chair and sat within arms-reach of Tony. This did not bode well. Sure enough…

“I want to talk about yesterday.”

Tony gripped his mug a little tighter but angled his chair to convey to Steve that he was listening. He owed him that much since he’d at least been kind enough to give Tony some time to recover his wits before bringing it up. See, he could be a mature adult when he tried. And Steve made him want to try.

“What about it? Do you want to discuss how my past as a slut is apparently impacting our work?”

Steve reached over and put his hand on Tony’s knee. “I hate it when you talk about yourself like that, and I hate it even more to hear someone like Fury use anything like that against you. You’re not a ‘slut’ or a ‘man-whore’ and never were. I just wanted to let you know that NO ONE who’s worth their weight, especially me or anyone on this team or even Coulson and Hill, thinks of you like that.”

Tony sat silently, staring at Steve’s hand and then putting his own hand on top of his. His brown eyes looked up to Steve’s blue, and he said, quietly, “I wasn’t checking out Agent Satan.” Steve huffed out a laugh. “I really was just ascertaining if she was a threat. I’d heard her arguing with Coulson and was concerned.”

“I know, I’ve seen you do it before and I also know Natasha and Clint gave you pointers as to what to look for. I wasn’t worried.” Steve smiled at him, and shifted the hand holding his to bring it up to his lips. “HOWEVER…” He was still holding Tony’s hand a few inches from his mouth, which had turned down into a frown, as though to prevent him from trying to escape. “Coulson was NOT happy about you blabbing about Fury’s non-deceased status in front of other people. It isn’t as well-known amongst SHIELD as you think. They’re still keeping things that classified close to their chests before they know for certain that no more HYDRA rats are on premises. He reamed me a new one when Bruce and Hill were loading.”

Tony grimaced. “My bad. He really chewed you out? I figured he was going on about more vintage Cap memorabilia.”

“Really.” Another kiss to his hand. “Wanna tell me why you were so dead set on finding out what the note was about? Coulson had already said we could take the tech with us.”

Tony debated internally if he really wanted to tell Steve about the weird feelings he got from the agent. Part of him did- he didn’t like keeping things like that from him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure he could appropriately articulate exactly WHAT had happened and he certainly didn’t know WHY. He had hoped Fury and his note could shed some light on it, but he didn’t know what it WAS. Just a feeling of unsettling familiarity that his memory couldn’t account for, and it made him very on edge. He settled for saying, “Curiosity, I guess,” with a shrug.

Steve looked to the ceiling with a “God, give me strength” expression on his face, then leveled his gaze with Tony’s. “Sweetheart, you know your curiosity is one of the many things I love about you. But please refrain from letting it cause you to leak classified information in the future.”

Tony smirked and used the hand Steve was still holding to stabilize himself as he moved out of his chair and onto Steve’s lap, straddling him. After getting settled, Steve let go as Tony used both hands to cup his face and started planting kisses all over, finally ending on his lips. “You have the patience of a saint. One of the many things I love about YOU.” Another kiss, longer and dirtier this time. Steve’s hands bracketed Tony’s hips, keeping him firmly in place. “Saint Steve, my hero.” Kiss. “Having you seated by my side lulled me into a sense of security. Forgot all about HYDRA.” Kiss. “Your fault, really.” Steve growled and ground his hips up against Tony’s. “Well, that’s not very Saint-like.” Tony rutted back against Steve, then starting trailing kisses along his jaw and down his neck, leaving love nips then soothing them with his tongue. He felt Steve’s arousal growing against his own and heard his breathing hitch then increase ‘til he was almost panting. “You know, we never got to finish what we started yesterday morning.” 

Another rut had Steve growling again as his hands went from Tony’s hips to cup his ass, and in one swift movement he’d lifted and pulled him against his groin and chest, standing and kicking the chair out from underneath him. He made his way out of the lab and to the elevator, moans falling from his lips as Tony continued his ministrations on the tender skin under his jaw. He braced Tony against the back wall of the elevator and used the added leverage to grind against him, dragging a breath-y groan from his lover who dug his fingernails into his back in response. “JARVIS, ughn, God, penthouse,” he panted.

“Of course, Captain.”  
\----------

When Tony and Steve, freshly showered, finally joined the others around the breakfast table in the communal kitchen a little after 9am, the meal was in full swing. Thor had his usual heaping mound of waffles that could feed a small army, covered in butter and syrup, and was laughing as Nat and Clint had a stare down over the last few pieces of bacon. Tony’s money was on Nat getting her way, through sheer intimidation alone. He considered ending the stalemate by reaching between the two to grab the bacon for himself, but he had no desire to lose any limbs today, thank you very much. Instead he pulled his best pout and said, “That better not be the last of what we have in the tower.”

“Nah, just the rest of what’s already cooked,” Clint replied, not breaking his gaze.

Tony had to commend him on his bravery. It was a suicide mission, but brave none-the-less. 

“I told them I’d make more, but they insisted on a duel,” Bruce said from his place on a stool at the kitchen island, calmly sipping his tea, a bowl of unfinished fruit salad sitting by his elbow.

Stealing food from Bruce was a safer bet, so Tony snurched a piece of cantaloupe from his bowl instead. 

The quiet scientist made a questioning gesture with his free hand and said, “What part of ‘I can make more food’ did you miss?” 

“The part that implied I didn’t need to take it from other people. This is more fun. Consider it training, I’m practicing my stealth.”

“You need all the practice you can get in that department, Shellhead. You’re about as stealthy as Liberace at an Amish funeral,” Nat delivered deadpan. Clint laughed and she used his moment of distraction to swoop in and grab the bacon, too fast for mortal eyes to track. Clint continued his end of the staring contest, not even realizing it had ended until a moment later when she arched an eyebrow and brought the bacon to her lips. As his face registered his disappointment, one side her mouth curved up into a smirk. 

Her cocky façade only cracked a smidge when Thor let loose another booming laugh and clapped one of his massive hands on her much smaller shoulder, actually making her crumple slightly to the affected side. “You have been bested in battle, Hawkeye. To the victor goes the spoils.”

“Sit and enjoy your breakfast, I’ll make something for me and Tony,” Steve said, when he saw Bruce move to set down his tea.

“Why? It looks like you two already ate.” Clint, recovered from his defeat, nodded towards the love bites that littered both of their necks and leered.

Steve immediately flushed and ducked his head further into the fridge where he pretended to look for the eggs that sat front and center on the top shelf.

Tony puttered around as he set about putting on another pot of coffee. “Just for that, Tweety Bird, no more bacon for you when Steve cooks up the next batch.”

“Why’s that, Stark? I thought Cap blushing got you all hot and bothered.”

“Enough, Clint,” Steve sighed, closing the fridge door with his foot as he carried another pound of bacon in one hand and the entire egg carton in the other over to the cook top. “We’re not discussing our sex life over breakfast.”

“Actually, he has a point…”

“Don’t encourage him, Tony.”

Tony dug around in the corner cabinet looking for a suitable replacement to the Iron Man mug that sat abandoned in the lab. Ravishing Steve was about the only activity that could distract him so thoroughly that he forgot about his morning coffee. He was about to place the Stark Industries cup onto the counter when the words that came out of Bruce’s mouth next almost made him drop it.

“What time is Agent Serafin supposed to be arriving?”

Tony saw Steve tense beside him. He whipped his head back and forth once or twice between the man at the island and the one at the stove before finally grounding out, “What!?”

Steve finally turned to look at him with a grimace on his face. “I kind of forgot to tell you…”

Bruce winced. “You said you were going to talk to him about it this morning before breakfast!”

“We got, um, distracted.” Another blush.

Tony looked back and forth between them again. “WHAT!?”

Clint, Nat and Thor, clearly sensing that there was an important story they were missing, stayed silent to find out what was going on.

Steve set down the spatula he was using to prod at the scrambled eggs he had in the skillet. “That was something else I discussed with Coulson before we left. He’s concerned she’ll resign if we take away full rights to the project.”

“I don’t give a flying FUCK if she resigns.”

“Coulson does. You said it yourself, her notes on the project are impressive and Bruce told me how competent her work seems to be. You were willing to work with her before.”

“Before she tore me to shreds in that office! She’s not staying HERE. I’m not working with her.”

“No, she’s not staying here. She’s staying in a motel.”

“I’m NOT working with her, Steve. I’m not SUPPOSED to be working with her, or did you miss the lovely phone call with Fury?”

“Coulson calls bullshit on the note that Fury made. Fury’s concern over your libido isn’t enough of a reason to delay figuring out if HYDRA’s found a way to control enhanced individuals.”

“Wait, what?” Clint interrupted. “Now FURY’s discussing your sex life? Was that over supper?” Heated glares from Tony, Steve, and even Bruce, shut him up.

Tony turned back to Steve, the heat that he’d leveled at Clint not dissipating at all. “NOT. GONNA. HAPPEN. End of discussion.” 

Without another word, Tony stormed out of the kitchen, coffee forgotten.


	6. Don't Breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is formed to keep drama to a minimum and Agent Serafin arrives to the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other than a depiction of an anxiety attack, there shouldn't be any triggering content in this chapter.

Tony would be lying if he told himself he wasn’t starting to freak out slightly. After storming out of the kitchen, he barely made it to the elevator and up to his lab before the beginnings of yet another anxiety attack gripped him. He sat in the rolling chair he had vacated earlier when he straddled Steve and pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes, taking deep breaths. “JARVIS, lockdown the lab and engage privacy mode.” He couldn’t see it with his eyes closed, but he assumed the windows that served as walls had darkened, blocking anyone outside from seeing in. He didn’t need anyone to see him having a freak out, especially when he didn’t know what was causing it. 

Usually when he had an attack, he could pinpoint what had triggered it and remove it or himself from the area. It was harder when the triggers were nightmares, but at least he or Steve could talk him down from it. But there was nothing to remove, nowhere to go, and no explanation for the deep feeling of dread and fear that lodged itself in his lungs, making it hard to breathe. Granted, the strange dream he had last night might have something to do with it, but he had no way to talk himself down because he had no idea what it meant or where it had come from. When he dreamt of a cave in Afghanistan or the wormhole, he told himself those experiences were over and done with and he’d survived. When he dreamt of Obi ripping the arc reactor from his chest, he reminded himself that the bastard was dead and the arc reactor no longer made him vulnerable to betrayal.

JARVIS began reciting calmly that Tony was in his lab, in the tower, and that he was safe. That it was 9:36am on Tuesday, January 30th. He continued listing facts about the present to help ground him and bring him back- the weather outside, where everyone in the tower was located, SI stock information, how many emails he had waiting for him, etc. It had become a routine that had started shortly after Tony flew a nuke through the wormhole and began having attacks. Being a bodiless AI, there was only so much JARVIS could do to aid him without summoning someone else.

It took a few minutes, but eventually his breathing evened out and he removed his hands from his eyes. A soft, high-pitched whirring noise to his right told him DUM-E was hovering nearby, worried about his creator. Tony patted the nearest strut, murmuring “Good boy.” DUM-E rolled closer, opening and closing his tri-fingered claw, and reached out to execute what could best be described as an affectionate nuzzle at Tony’s temple and hairline. “I’m okay, buddy.” Tony gave another pat to calm the bot. “Why don’t you make me some more coffee? You did a good job with that this morning. Daddy’s gonna get back to work.” The bot gave some happy whirs and beeps, twirled around in place, then made his way over to the kitchenette.

Tony rubbed his eyes one more time, then turned to his work station and waved his hands to open up the holographic displays showing the schematics of the control collars and the waffle iron-shaped remote he’d already input this morning. Pushing the unease that Agent Serafin brought out in him to the back of his mind, he did what he did best when confronted with emotions that he didn’t understand- he ignored them.  
\----------

 

Steve gave Tony two hours to calm down before following him to the lab. He understood why the genius was upset but he was still surprised to find the lab in lockdown and the windows blacked-out. Before inputting his security override code and possibly angering Tony by ignoring his obvious desire to be left alone, Steve called out to JARVIS to ask for permission to enter. To his pleasant surprise, the windows immediately lightened and the door clicked as it unlocked and the automatic opening mechanism was engaged. 

As he entered, he could see Tony bent over some delicate-looking circuitry and wiring of one of the control collars. Holo-displays floated nearby, filled with numbers and equations that Steve had no hope of even vaguely understanding. Tony set down the small tools in his hands and turned to give him his attention as he said, “Sorry, I forgot I had JARVIS initiate lockdown. I just needed some time to cool down and I didn’t know if you were hot on my heels after I left.” He tilted his head up a bit to give Steve a kiss when the super soldier stopped next to him.

“I was worried you were mad at me.”

Tony sighed. “I AM mad, but not at you.” He turned back to the workstation and picked his tools up to go back to fiddling with the tech.

“If it makes you feel any better, Nat, Clint and Thor are just as angry as we are after we filled them in on the situation. If Agent Satan makes even the slightest distasteful remark about you, she has a team of angry and protective Avengers who’ll shut her down in a heartbeat. I’d also recommend to Fury that he make no attempt to join us for any meals or movie nights in the near-future.”

Tony smiled at Steve using the nickname. It was obviously a show of solidarity and support since it wasn’t often that Steve adopted any Tony-given monikers. He’d only heard him call Clint “Hawkass” once or twice when the archer was being particularly bold, which of course resulted in Tony getting accused of being a bad influence. “I’m safe and sound then,” he said, without a hint of his usual sarcasm. It was nice knowing that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had his back. There were a few moments of silence as he continued to tinker before Tony asked quietly, “So what time is she due to arrive?”

“She should be here around 1:00. Bruce and I will meet her when she comes. We discussed it and figure the best course of action is to set her up in his lab instead of yours.”

“When DID you two discuss it? You both seem to know a lot more about this than I do.” There was no heat in his voice, just curiosity. He didn’t look up from the workstation.

Steve quirked up one corner of his mouth. “When you were sleeping like a baby on the car ride home.”

“That’s a horrible description. Babies sleep like anxious, caffeine-fueled college students right before finals. On the rare occasion that they DO fall asleep, the slightest noise startles them and makes them start freaking out and bawling.”

“Yes, but babies drool. You were definitely drooling. And honestly, that does seem to perfectly describe your sleeping habits.”

Tony finally looked up, with a look of indignation on his face. “I most certainly do not drool. Or snore. Or bawl. I am the picture of relaxed elegance when I sleep, like a magazine spread for Sleep Number beds. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.”

Steve chuckled. “First-hand experience doesn’t count? Ya know, that might’ve been why the seat belt gave you problems last night- it was rusted from your spittle.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. “No one says ‘spittle’ anymore, Cap. And I don’t drool.”

“JARVIS may have proof. JARVIS?”

Tony called out, “Mute,” before the AI could respond.

Steve’s chuckle turned into a belly laugh and he pulled Tony into a hug, resting his chin on the top of the shorter man’s head. He was mindful of the fact that Tony still held some pointy-looking tools in his hands, but he was also about 50% sure that he wouldn’t start poking at him in retaliation. Tony relaxed into his arms for a few seconds but then proved that the half-and-half odds weren’t in Steve’s favor as he delivered a light jab with a dull handle to his ribs and stepped away, turning back to the bits and pieces of tech on the workstation.

Steve faked a pained grimace, gripping his side in a dramatic fashion, which earned him a smile and a laugh.

Tony shook his head at Steve’s antics, still smiling as he asked, “So what’s the plan?”

Steve knew he was referring to Agent Serafin coming to the tower. “We’re gonna set her up in Bruce’s lab with the control collars. That’s technically the only part of the project she could claim ownership of, since the remote…THING was only just acquired a few days ago. You’ll be working on that part of it since Bruce says that, according to her notes, it looks like she hasn’t had a chance yet to get into the nitty-gritty of it. He and JARVIS will be your intermediaries, though it sounds like he plans to stay here with you for the most part.” Tony smiled at that. “He doesn’t like the idea of giving her free-reign of his lab, but he’s disgusted enough with her that he considers it a small price to pay and doesn’t want to run the risk of a callous remark letting loose the Big Guy in the tower. It’s safe to assume Hulk would want to defend your honor and smash her to a pulp.” Another smile, and a snort this time. “He also recommends exchanging numbers and communicating via-text message should anyone step out of the lab or away from JARVIS. She seems like the type to take her work home with her. No phone calls and don’t delete any messages. If she instigates an argument that culminates in her quitting, there’s proof. That means you’ll have to play nice, too. Don’t give Coulson a reason to harp on us.”

“I always play nice.” 

That garnered Tony a doubtful look and a head tilt. 

“I’ve gotten BETTER at playing nice.” 

Steve’s expression didn’t change.

Tony heaved a put-upon sigh and raised his right hand as though about to take an oath. “Fine. I, Anthony Edward Stark, do solemnly swear to be on my best behavior and to make an honest effort to not anger the She-Devil.”

“Or Coulson.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Or Coulson,” he agreed.

Steve relaxed his judgmental eyebrows, then laughed when he heard Tony mutter under his breath, “Take away all my fun, why don’t ya?”  
\----------

 

When the black, SHIELD issued sedan pulled up into the tower’s public garage at promptly 1:00, it wasn’t just Steve and Bruce waiting to “greet” Agent Serafin- they were also joined by two superspies and a Demi-God. Steve only allowed them to accompany them after wrangling out promises to behave that were similar to the one he’d managed from Tony, though in all honestly he probably wouldn’t have been able to stop them. Clint would’ve just lurked in the vents with an arrow notched in his bow, Natasha would undoubtedly be near enough to deliver crippling blows even if she wasn’t seen, and Thor was actually a good match for Steve, brute strength-wise. 

Fortunately, Nat and Clint’s history with SHIELD left them with a lot of respect for Coulson, who they wouldn’t want to disappoint by acting up, and Thor could be expected to be respectful of a “lady” and fellow “sister-in-arms.”

It didn’t mean they had to like it.

The tension surrounding the lot was palpable as the object of their displeasure stepped out of the car and made her way towards them. Steve noticed that she looked just as tense as they felt and seemed tired, if the slightly-discolored circles under her eyes were anything to go by. He’d seen much the same look on Tony and Bruce’s faces many times before. Must be a science thing.

“Agent Serafin.” Steve held out his hand as she approached, even though he remembered her ignoring it the last time they met. This time she actually shifted her briefcase from her right to her left and returned the gesture of good-will. “Welcome to Avenger’s Tower. You’ve met Dr. Banner. This is Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, and Thor Odinson. Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and, um, Thor, respectively.”

No one else on the team made an attempt to shake her hand, though both Bruce and Thor gave curt nods in greeting. Steve made a mental note that if ever he needed someone other than Bruce or JARVIS to interact with her, Thor would be the best bet.

Agent Serafin nodded back, obviously not expecting any other handshakes to be made. “I remember you two from when you still worked for SHIELD, though we never actually worked together,” she addressed Clint and Natasha, who didn’t respond back. Undeterred, she continued, “And it’s Doctor Serafin. Or Angela. ‘Agent’ was my father.”

The joke fell flat. Steve was pretty sure that if there were crickets in the garage, their legs would start chirping.

Bruce gave an awkward cough and said, “If you’ll follow us, we’ll show you to where you’ll be working.”  
\----------

 

Leaving Bruce to get DOCTOR Serafin settled into his lab, Steve made his way to the communal kitchen to make two plates of sandwiches for himself and Tony. Clint, Nat, and Thor had already gone their separate ways, having made their point that they were a united front in defense of their favorite engineer without ever having to say a word. The wary looks that Agent/Doctor/Angela Serafin kept sending their way obviously conveyed that she’d received the message loud and clear. Fortunately, she had also behaved herself. The only time she made any indication of being inconvenienced was when she saw that the control collars were taken apart and left in pieces in a box that Tony had sent up from his lab before she got there. Steve had given her the run-down of how communication was to be maintained while the trio “worked together” and wrote down Tony’s cell phone number. He also gave her his number, as well, in case any problems came up that he could nip in the bud before they escalated. Dr. Serafin murmured her thanks as Steve left the two scientists to their own devices.

With the finished sandwiches in hand, Steve made his way back up to Tony’s lab, hoping he’d be able to coerce his fiancé to eat. Last he’d seen him, Tony had boxed up the collars and had already started dismantling the remote that controlled them. He had to have been starving by now, but Steve knew how hard it could be to get the genius to come up for air when he was engrossed in an exciting project and alien tech was about as exciting as it could get.

Sure enough, it didn’t look like Tony had moved at all since Steve was in the lab last, still up to his elbows in wires and glowy things that were not of this world. He didn’t even seem to register Steve’s presence as JARVIS lowered the volume of the music to something a little less ear-piercing and he came up alongside him and set the plates, heaped with not only the sandwiches but also pickles and potato chips (sour cream and onion, of course), on the workstation. A kiss on the cheek seemed to finally make Tony aware that he was no longer alone.

“I brought you some lunch.”

A vague, “Hm,” was all the response he got. He might be aware Steve was there, or at least that SOMEONE was there, but Tony’s mind was obviously still somewhere in Science Land. Honestly, Loki could’ve been sitting on Tony’s shoulders with knife pressed to his neck and he would still have been oblivious. With the tip of his tongue peeking out of the corner of his mouth, hair sticking up at all angles after roughly running his hand through too many times to count, oil stains spattering the well-fitting tank top and jeans, and smudges of grease on the side of his nose and all over his arms, Steve thought Tony always looked adorable like this. And remarkably attractive. Very, very attractive. Tony in his engineering element was a beautiful thing to behold. Steve has immortalized many scenes just like this in his sketch book, his favorites being any involving the Iron Man suit. He had an armor kink, so sue him.

Steve reached slowly around Tony so as not to startle him and gently removed the screwdriver he was holding from his hand. As much he loathe to interrupt him when he got like this- a science-binging Tony was a happy Tony, and a happy Tony was a happy Steve- he knew that he needed to eat. “Come. Food. Eat.”

Tony finally blinked and looked up at him, the haze seeming to clear from his eyes. “You brought me food?”

Steve smiled and kissed the top of his head. It wasn’t unusual at all for him to bring something down for Tony at meal times when he was in the throes of the creating the future. The confusion come from being so deep in his genius mind that he’s lost all track of time and space around him. It’s such a common occurrence for Tony to retreat to his lab, disappear for several days at a time and then resurface having no idea what day of the week it is, that he’s taken to only trusting Steve or JARVIS to tell him the correct date after several instances of Clint and Natasha messing with him. 

“Yes, Sweetheart, I brought you food. You need to eat. After vomiting up last night’s supper and missing breakfast this morning, you must be starving.”

Tony was getting ready to protest the interruption and reaching for the screwdriver in Steve’s hand when his stomach loudly rumbled. He stopped and sighed. “Betrayed by my own body. What’d you bring me?”

Steve slid one of the plates closer and set the screwdriver further away.

“Ooooo. Turkey sandwich! Gimme...” he said, making grabby hands.

Steve laughed and brought the plate to sit in front of the hungry engineer, then made his way over the kitchenette to grab two glasses of ice water. By the time he’d made his way back over to the table, Tony had already devoured almost half of considerably large sandwich and some of the chips. “Told you so,” he said with a smirk.

Tony ignored the dig and closed his eyes in ecstasy as he took another bite. “You’re so good to me.”

“You deserve it.”

Tony blushed and continued eating. For someone who supposedly had such a large ego, he wasn’t very good at accepting genuine compliments. He had an absurd idea in his mind, ingrained by Howard and reinforced by all the horrible people who’ve come behind him, that he wasn’t worth the effort and didn’t deserve good things. Steve was determined to change that. Tony coughed and changed the subject. “So how did it go getting Agent Satan set up?”

“She prefers DOCTOR Satan, or ya know, Angela. It actually went pretty well. She was surprisingly docile. Almost shy,” Steve said, as he took a bit of his own sandwich.

Tony snorted. “Yeah, right. It’s either the calm before the storm or she’s scared shitless after realizing just what group of people she pissed off.”

“Our entire rag-tag family decided to meet her as soon as she stepped foot on premises, so I’m gonna go with option number two.”

Tony sniggered at the mental image. “I almost feel bad for her. Almost.”

“Hopefully it’s enough to keep anymore drama from coming about.”

“Keeping our distance should help. Someone should kindly suggest to her going out of the building for lunches.”

“Bruce already did. Gave her a stack of menus for every restaurant and deli in a 5 mile radius.”

Both men ended up clutching their sides as they outright cackled at that. Tony wiped tears from his cheeks that had snuck out as his eyes had crinkled. “Man, I love him,” he wheezed out, as his laughter died down. For such a quiet, gentle man who avoided any form of confrontation, Bruce was the undisputed king of cheeky passive aggressiveness.

As they continued eating their lunch in companionable silence, Tony slowly grew more somber. Despite the fact that everything seemed to be going smoothly, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise you guys, we're getting close to the good stuff. I'm a stickler for details and setting the scene. I know I've already said it before, but honest, I'm pretty sure things are going to be going south for our merry band of superheroes in the next 1 to 2 chapters. I'm gonna aim for the next chapter, but this story is taking on a life of it's own.


	7. Hellraiser

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS WHAT COULD BE CONSIDERED TRIGGERING CONTENT- Read at your own discretion
> 
> Dr. Serafin isn't so bad, but Tony is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to change the rating of this story just because of the sex scene in this (much longer) chapter. I hope that doesn't put people off. Yes, there is some more smut, but it's smut gone sideways.
> 
> Text messages are in **bold**.

**THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1st**

Despite Tony’s misgivings a few days ago, things were actually going very smoothly working with Dr. Serafin. That was probably because they weren’t actually working “together,” per se- more like they were each working on two different puzzles then giving them to Bruce and JARVIS to piece the two halves together. Even with her first being only half a day, having started right after her arrival, their system was so seamless by the end of it that they haven’t yet needed to communicate after Dr. Serafin left at 5pm to go back to her motel. She obviously continued working after hours, as did he, then they dumped it on poor Bruce in the morning and he made it look like a cohesive unit. 

They’d already figured out that the collars and the remote to control them wouldn’t work on individuals whose enhancements involved brute strength, such as Cap or Hulk, which helped put everyone at ease. It was a little unnerving when they came to the conclusion that the enhancements that the collars were meant to contain ran more along the lines of mind control. Tony and Dr. Serafin both ascertained that the pulses given off by the collars were meant to interrupt something similar to brain waves, though they wouldn’t be able to fully understand the implications without someone with such powers to test it on. Given that they’d also determined that using the collars would cause great pain to the wearer, they wouldn’t have tested it even if they had a suitable volunteer.

The entire time she was in the tower, Dr. Serafin didn’t leave the lab except to take Bruce’s hint to go out to eat for lunch. Since the state-of-the-art lab was built by Tony, there were attached amenities to make day long binges pleasant, such as a full-size bathroom, a fully stocked kitchenette with a fridge and a Keurig, and a plush couch seated in front of an excessively-large television. 

Bruce had ended up actually spending more time in his lab with the SHIELD scientist than in Tony’s simply because there was more room to work. Tony’s lab on its best days could best be described as organized chaos, but with all the Chitauri tech beside his personal, Avenger, SHIELD, and SI projects cluttering the worktables it was even worse than usual. As frustrating as it was for Bruce, it was even more stressful for Tony who kept freaking out every time something was moved. That’s why the chaos was described as “organized”- despite all of the things being everywhere, it made sense to Tony and he actually knew exactly where everything was. “I have a system, Bruce!” he’d exclaimed after Bruce had once again complained loudly about not being able to find what he needed and demanding to know how Tony could stand to work like this. So, in truth, both of them had been happy when he returned to his own lab after only a few hours on the first day, before his frustration led to an accidental Hulk-Out.

Bruce was surprised to find that working alongside Dr. Serafin was actually quite pleasant. None of the nastiness he’d seen when he first met her at SHIELD made an appearance, and the initial deduction that he and Tony had made about her level of intelligence had been accurate. No snarky comments about his friend had been made and she was very polite. She’d even gone so far to praise Tony’s work, though it had been offhand and under her breath as though saying it out loud was admitting she’d been in the wrong. Bruce still heard it and had smiled to himself. He loved seeing the moment when people had realized their assumptions about Tony had been incorrect.

His opinion of her had softened even more this morning when she’d appeared for work on their third day, promptly at 8am as had been agreed, with three to-go cups from his and Tony’s favorite coffee shop. She took her own beverage from the carrier before holding it out for Bruce. When he looked questioningly at her, she had sheepishly looked down and said, “I asked JARVIS what you both would like and these were his suggestions. It’s a peace offering. I know I’m not supposed to be talking to Tony outside of what needs to be said for the project, so I was hoping you could relay a message to him and tell him that I apologize for being so cruel. This project has been my baby since we recovered the collars 3 months ago and when I found out it was being taken from me and given to someone else…” She paused. “I was angry. I took it out on him and I’m sorry for that. I’m not expecting him to want to speak with me but I wanted to extend an olive branch. We should probably still maintain our distance, even though Fury’s reason for the note was an asinine one.”

As she gave her little apology speech, Bruce paid close attention to see if she was genuine. He was pleased to see that she seemed to mean it, but was a bit worried by the dark circles under her eyes and the pallor of her skin. In the few days she’d been here, she seemed to be quickly succumbing to exhaustion. As he took the carrier from her hands, he noticed her right hand had a large bandage wrapped around it and there appeared to be a tiny bit of blood seeping through. “What happened to your hand? Did you get hurt in the lab?”

She quickly tucked her hands into the pocket of her lab coat and gave a tentative smile, obviously meant to reassure him. “No. No, it’s fine. It didn’t happen here. I’d have let you know. I cut it on the bed frame at the motel. Damn place is a death trap.” This time she didn’t seem so truthful. After a brief pause, she said, “Don’t worry I’ll wear a glove on it to make sure I don’t contaminate any of your other projects.”

Bruce thought to call her out on what he suspected was a lie, but decided to let it go. Instead he gave her a kind smile, thanked her for the tea she’d brought him, and promised to deliver the message and the coffee.

\----------

Bruce brought Dr. Serafin’s gift to Tony right away to make sure it was still hot. Cold coffee would do nothing to warm the engineer’s opinion of her. He patted DUM-E’s “head” as he passed the little bot on his way over to the workstation that Tony was already slaving away over. He sighed, knowing that there was bound to be an abundance of data about the remote waiting in his inbox to be sorted and meshed with whatever the SHIELD scientist has undoubted prepared, as well. He was caught in the middle of two workaholics and it was exhausting.

Tony seemed to sense the presence of his favorite beverage from his favorite café and looked up from his work. “Brucie-Bear! You brought me coffee! This is why you’re my favorite.” He was grabbing the cup out of the carrier before Bruce had a chance to set it down on the table. He brought the cup to his lips and took a sip, then swallowed, smacked his lips together and went, “Ahhhhhhhh!”

Bruce shook his head. “You are absolutely obscene. And I’m pretty sure you’re marrying your actual favorite.” He hesitated. “Also, you should know, the coffee isn’t from me, it’s from Angela.”

The Cheshire-like grin Tony was wearing fell from his face and he paled. He none-so-gently put the cup on the table and pushed it away, as though it had offended his great ancestors. He grabbed a dirty towel that had been sitting nearby and wiped his tongue repeatedly, then pulled over a nearby trashcan and started spitting into it. “What the hell, Bruce!? She could be trying to poison me!” He ripped the lid off the cup, sloshing coffee on the tabletop. “JARVIS, scan it. Make sure there’s nothing suspicious in it.”

Bruce grabbed the towel out of his hand, avoiding the area covered in saliva, and started mopping up the spilled coffee before it could reach any of the nearby electronics. “Pretty sure whatever this filthy towel is covered in will kill you faster.”

“My scanners detect coffee, sugar, cream, and hazelnut syrup. There are a few grounds in the bottom, but I assure you, they provide no choking hazard. Would you like me to list the ingredients of the syrup, Sir?”

Tony muttered, “Smartass.” After spitting dramatically a few more times, he leveled a glare at Bruce. “So you’re on a first name basis with her now? Two days and you abandon me for a pretty face.”

Bruce sighed. “She brought us drinks as a peace-offering.” He picked up his own cup and took a swig, making a point that it wasn’t toxic. “It was a nice gesture.”

“Your forgiving heart will get you burned.”

“No, that’s the tea. I need to let it cool a few more minutes.”

“Whatever.” Tony turned back to the schematics on the screen, an obvious dismissal, and pointedly ignoring the coffee that still sat steaming a few inches away.

Not to be deterred, Bruce talked to Tony’s back. “She sent you an olive branch and asked me let you know that she’s sorry for how she treated you. She was upset by the circumstances and took it out on you. I know you don’t trust her, but you do trust me and I believe her apology was the read deal. She went out of her way to find out from JARVIS-“

“Please don’t bring me into this, Dr. Banner.”

“-what our favorite drinks were, and you’re being very rude to sputter as though she forced your mouth open and poured arsenic down your throat.”

Bruce heard Tony mutter under his breath something about donating the AI to a museum to be used as an automated tour guide, but begrudgingly picked up the coffee and put the lid back on it though he made no move to actually drink it. He sighed again and started for the door, feeling a patented Tony Stark glare burning into his shoulder blades. He called over his shoulder, “I let Angela know you say thank you,” and walked out.

\----------

An hour after she’d returned from her lunch, Angela felt the phone in her pocket vibrate and she fished it out to take a look at the waiting message.

**Thank you for the coffee**

\----------

A few minutes past 6:00, Tony was still hunched over his workstation when JARVIS spoke up.

“You have a new text message from the contact named ‘Dr. Satan’ waiting to be viewed.”

Tony felt his pulse quicken a bit, but took a few deep breaths to squash his panic. He’d managed to go two and half days without an incident by avoiding the woman. Nothing nefarious had happened by being in the same building as Dr. Serafin and Bruce even seemed to have a taken a little bit of a liking to her. 

He talked to Steve about an hour ago when he came down to let him know that dinner would be ready around 6:30 with a strongly worded suggestion that he actually leave his lab to come up and join everyone else. Apparently his fiancé was tired of him playing hermit crab. Tony just wanted to wrap up the project and get the offending scientist out of his home so everything could go back to normal. They were almost done; they’d gleaned most of what they could from the tech without subjecting some poor soul to any testing of the devices but Tony still wanted to study the alien signal transponders first. He suspected that if he could apply the technology to the Avengers and SHIELD’s comm units, they’d get much better signal strength if teammates were ever separated by long distances, mountainous terrain, or stronger metals. He had a theory that it may even pass through vibranium and he was already planning a way to test it using Steve’s shield. Coming up for dinner would push that back, but he promised Steve he’d be up. Between Tony’s avoidance techniques, which he’s heard were unnecessary since the SHIELD scientist didn’t go anywhere except Bruce’s lab, and the long hours logged in his own lab, they haven’t had much time together since Dr. Serafin arrived. Except the occasional shared meal that Steve would bring down to make sure he didn’t starve, the only time Tony even saw him was during the few moments he was awake after trudging upstairs after 1am each evening to collapse into their bed.

To make matters worse, the nightmares- they were no longer classified as simple dreams anymore- were getting more intense. Last night, the creepy children’s voices starting singing some macabre song and the man’s voice that had beckoned him to help him hide while playing had become threatening and ominous. And he kept seeing that goddamn birthmark. Dr. Serafin’s birthmark. He was exhausted and grumpy, and he blamed her. Steve had made a remark about how tired he looked and Tony had snapped at him. It was probably why Steve was losing his patience and demanding he join the team for dinner. Tont just wanted her gone, the project finished, and the nightmares to end.

Unfortunately, it’s already been established that his curiosity would be the death of him and he couldn’t resist picking up his phone to check the message.

 

**I think I know why Fury didn’t want us working together and it has nothing to do with your reputation.**

 

Whatever Tony had been expecting, it hadn’t been that. He tapped his fingers against his chest- a habit that remained even though the arc reactor was long gone.

 

 **Ok, I’ll bite. What do you mean?** \- he sent back.

 

“Sir, Captain Rogers would like me to inform you that dinner will be ready in 10 minutes and, I quote, ‘Your fine iron tush better be upstairs and seated at the table before the salad hits the sideboard,’” JARVIS announced.

“Ok, J, I will,” Tony mumbled distractedly, staring a hole in his phone where the little “…” icon was blinking, indicating that she was typing back.

 

**Meet me at the Avenue Dinner in a half an hour and I’ll tell you my theory.**

 

Tony balked. That did not sit well with him. He wanted her out of his life, not to meet up with her for a friendly chat over milkshakes. But ever since the dreams started, he couldn’t help the nagging feeling that there was more going on than they were told. Steve wouldn’t want him meeting her, especially not alone. Granted they’d found some work-arounds, but an order was an order in a soldier’s mind and Fury had made it very clear that they were to be kept apart. It would probably anger Coulson, as well. Tony sat staring at the screen for another few minutes before making up his mind.

He was never was one for following orders.

 

**Alright. Give me 45 and I’ll be there.**

 

JARVIS had been monitoring the conversation and chimed in. “Sir, I strongly recommend you don’t do this. Captain Rogers will not be pleased and you promised to join everyone for dinner. You have approximately three minutes to message back to decline her invitation and get your ‘iron tush’ to the dinner table.”

Tony stood up and made his way to the back corner of his lab. “What Steve doesn’t know won’t hurt him and let me make it very clear that you are not to tell him or anyone else where I’m going, who I’m seeing, or anything about the text messages including who sent them and what was said, is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Great, now open up the in-between, I need to change real quick.”

\----------

20 minutes later, Tony made his way from the penthouse to the common floor. JARVIS had already informed him that Steve wasn’t happy and he was about to make the poor guy’s mood worse.

As he stepped out of the elevator, Natasha gave a wolf whistle.

Clint turned around to look. “I now it’s been awhile since you did the whole team dinner thing, Stark, but you didn’t have to get dressed up on our account.”

Steve looked up from angrily poking at a poor, defenseless tomato and arched an eyebrow. “What’s with the suit?”

Tony hesitated. He hated lying to Steve. “You’re gonna hate me. Pepper called, she was livid. I completely forgot I have a dinner with some investors at 6:15 at Casa Negro. I’m obviously running REALLY late and have to run.” He was already walking backwards, towards the elevator, hoping Steve didn’t see the tell-tale cold sweat that had broken out across his brow. “I’m sorry, Sweetheart, really. It smells delicious and I’m jealous. I’ll make it up to you. Tomorrow. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All family affairs, I’ll be up for every meal. Promise. I love you!” The door closed before Steve could reply and as Tony rode the elevator car down to the garage, he ran a shaking hand across his forehead to mop up the sweat. Eh, this jacket needed to go to the cleaners anyway.

Tony tried to calm his shaking hands as he got into his fastest Audi and headed out to the diner.

\----------

After cleaning up from dinner, Steve, Nat, Clint and Thor decided to settle in for a movie while Bruce retreated back to his lab to finish up some more work before retiring for the night. He’d mentioned earlier when they were eating that they were almost finished analyzing the collars and remote and that Tony was eager to wrap it all up and send Dr. Serafin back to SHIELD. Steve was more than ready for their project to be finished. Dr. Serafin wasn’t the problem- the woman barely made a peep and almost never stepped out of the lab. Even Clint, Natasha, and Thor had realized that she wasn’t posturing for a fight and had backed down on their attempts to intimidate her.

Bruce had mentioned that she’d brought them a peace-offering this morning and had apologized for how she behaved. No, Dr. Serafin wasn’t a problem. The problem Steve had with the project was Tony.

Ever since that day at SHIELD, Tony has been acting _off_. Sure, he banters like usual and is still affectionate with Steve. He’s been hiding out in his lab, but that wasn’t unusual either. Every time Steve went down to hang out with him, either to eat or to just sit on the couch and sketch while he worked, Tony always seemed distant and tense. Not I’m-absorbed-in-my-work distant; it was more like, I’m-hiding-something-from-you-so-stay-away. It was similar to what Pepper had described from when Tony had been dying of palladium poisoning. After getting over the initial awkwardness of talking to Tony’s ex about their relationship, Steve had found a confidant in Pepper Potts when Tony was being particularly difficult to understand. She explained that Tony tends to become distant whenever something makes him uncomfortable and it was important to know the signs of what type of distance he was creating in order to overcome it and get him to talk. She also explained that sometimes, no matter what anyone does to try to get him to open up, it won’t work and the best thing to do is to be there for him while he works it out on his own. Steve has struggled with that last bit. Not the “being there” for Tony part, that’s easy. He’ll always be there for Tony. The thing he had a hard time with was standing off to the side while Tony was obviously struggling with something and having no idea how to make it better.

Tony getting sick a few nights ago was distressing enough, but he was also starting to see signs of sleep deprivation and Steve was starting to worry that his nightmares had come back. It felt like taking a few steps backwards in their relationship by Tony not wanting to talk about it. It had taken awhile when they first starting sharing a bed to get Tony to open up about what the nightmares were about so Steve could help him come down from them, but eventually he had and now didn’t seem to hesitate at all when he needed Steve’s comfort. Now it was like they were back to square one.

As Steve’s mind wandered over the enigma that was his future husband, he didn’t notice the man himself wander in from the elevator and make his way over. Before he had a chance to react, he had a lap full of genius, who immediately hooked his hand around to the back of Steve’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

Clint made a gagging sound from the recliner he was lounging in. “Get a room. No one wants to see Mom and Dad make out.”

“Good idea, let’s go to bed,” Tony said, getting up quickly from the couch and grabbing Steve’s hand to pull him up.

“We’re watching a movie.” Steve arched his eyebrow and refused to move. He was still mad at Tony for ditching dinner, but only a little bit. Tony couldn’t keep neglecting SI business and Steve couldn’t begrudge him a dinner meeting since it wasn’t often he had to go to them, usually sending Pepper instead.

“No, THEY’RE watching a movie. YOU were impersonating a space cadet. Do you even know what’s on the screen?”

Steve had to admit, he had no idea what movie they’d chosen; he was too engrossed in his concerns about the man in front of him. He thinks it has something to do with using magic to rob banks. It honestly sounded kind of silly to him. “Uhhh…”

“Very articulate. Come to bed with me. I’m tired. Usually our roles are reversed, you should be ecstatic right now.” Tony gave another tug on his hand.

“Steve, take him and go. You may not want to watch the movie, but we do; if your boyfriend keeps whining, Clint’s liable to throw a tranq dart at his neck,” Natasha said, not looking away from the screen.

Steve huffed and stood up, letting Tony lead him to the elevator and up to the penthouse. As soon as the elevator doors closed and the lift started to ascend, Tony wrapped his arms tightly around Steve’s torso and clung as though for dear life. “Hey, you okay?” Steve asked as he started rubbing comforting circles into Tony’s back. He noticed he was trembling a bit.

Tony replied, his voice was muffled by Steve’s chest, “Just a rough night.”

“Were the investors unhappy about something?”

“Huh?”

“The investors that you were meeting. Were they upset about something?”

Tony hesitated. “No, it was just…” He looked up at Steve, resting his chin on his chest, but seemed to have difficulty meeting his eyes. The doors opened to their floor but Tony didn’t move. Then he seemed to make a decision, regarding what Steve didn’t know. “Can we just go to bed? I’ll tell you about it in the morning. Promise.”

Steve kissed his nose and let go of his back so they could move from the elevator to their penthouse. “Sure thing.” Steve grabbed Tony’s hand this time and led the way. As they moved through their living area, he glanced at the clock and was surprised by the time. “It’s only 9:30 and you want to go to sleep? This is a first,” he teased.

Tony smirked at him. “Who said anything about sleeping?” Then he pounced.

Steve fell back against the closed door to their bedroom as Tony launched himself at him, all lips, teeth, tongue and hands. Those hands gripped the hem of Steve’s shirt and yanked up, scraping the fabric over the tip of his nose. Next went his boxer briefs and pants, but they got caught on his shoes and Tony growled in frustration until Steve managed to toe them off. He clumsily reached behind him searching for the door knob to let them into their bedroom, but he kept getting distracted by the wonderful things his fiancé was doing with his lips as he suckled his neck. He finally managed to open the door and almost fell to the floor. He was able to catch himself (Super Soldier reflexes came in handy in more places than the battlefield) and backed over the bed. He landed on his back with a soft whump when Tony pushed him to land on top of their comforter.

Usually Tony did this little thing where he would stand over and appraise Steve in all his naked glory when they were in a position like this, but instead Tony wasted no time and started peeling his own clothes off, not seeming to care if the buttons of his expensive suit popped or the fabric creased. He was naked in just a few heartbeats and straddling Steve, grinding against him in an almost fevered frenzy. Tony’s mouth seemed to be everywhere on his body, licking, sucking and kissing. He’d come up for air only long enough to murmur soft “I love you”s before going back to ravishing him.

Steve was wild with need after only a few minutes, wanting to return all the love and attention that Tony was giving him. He wrapped his arms around his lover and flipped him onto his back. He reached for his hands and pinned them gently above his head as he started kissing down his neck, over his collar bone and down his chest, going further and further south. 

Tony arched his back and ground his hips into Steve’s seeking friction until he felt lips against his throbbing erection. Steve had let go of his hands and now pinned his hips to the bed as worked, using all the tricks he knew would drive him wild. “You’re so good for me, Sweetheart,” Steve murmured, lovingly.

 

 _“Such a good boy…”_

 

Tony felt his heart start to pound against his rib cage with enough force that it seemed that it would burst through the false sternum and his breathing started to hitch as his throat closed up. He fisted the sheets and clamped his eyes shut as a feeling of panic flooded his chest and made his stomach flip. Instead of moans of “yes” and “more” and “oh, God, Steve,” he started to chant “No,” first under his breath then slightly louder as his legs started to move of their own accord and dig his heels into the mattress. 

Steve, not realizing that the mood had changed and assuming his lovers movements were the result of ecstasy, dug his fingers into Tony’s hips as he writhed. He was caught off guard and taken aback when suddenly a fist came down hard on his shoulder. It wasn’t enough to bruise the super soldier but it caught his attention. He released his hold of Tony’s hips and pulled his mouth off of his cock. As he looked up and caught sight of the brunette’s anguished face, he jumped off of him and to the other side of the bed in shock. There were tears streaming from his tightly shut eyes and running down into the hair at his temples, his lips moved as he repeated “No, no,” like a mantra. One hand clutched the sheets in a death grip and the other was formed into a fist and floated like a guard over his chest, which was heaving up and down as he hyperventilated. His legs, released from Steve’s weight over them, bent at the knees as though ready to kick if he was approached. Steve was horrified.

“Tony! Tony, shhhh, baby, it’s me. It’s Steve. I’m sorry,” he said, as he moved within arms-reach, wanting to comfort but not knowing how because he didn’t know what he did wrong. This wasn’t anything different from how their evenings usually went. Granted it moved along a bit faster than most nights, but it was Tony who had set the pace to begin with. “Tony what’s wrong? Baby, shhhh… It’s okay. We’ll stop.” But Tony seemed inconsolable. “JARVIS, what do I do? What happened? Did I do something?” The idea that Steve himself was the reason Tony was so upset during such an intimate moment made him frantic.

“It appears Sir is experiencing a massive anxiety attack. Continue talking to him in a soothing voice and try placing a hand gently, but firmly, on his shoulder.”

“Are you sure I should touch him?”

“A firm, unmoving hand in a non-vulnerable area should help ground him instead of making it worse.”

JARVIS is not usually wrong, but this time he was. Steve continued talking to Tony in calm, reassuring tones, telling him that everything was alright, that he was safe. When reached out and touched his shoulder, however, Tony’s eyes flew open and he leapt from the bed. His legs tangled in the sheets and he fell hard onto the floor with a THUD, scurrying towards the bathroom on all fours. Steve followed him, worried he was going to shut the door and lock him out. Instead Tony went as far into the room as he could before hitting the wall caddy-corner to the toilet and sinking to the floor, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs. Steve hesitated at the door, not wanting to scare him even more, his mind trying to figure out what had made him react so badly. Tony had NEVER had an anxiety attack while they were making love.

Steve walked slowly into the bathroom, stopping right inside the door a few feet away. “Tony, Sweetheart, it’s just me, it’s Steve. I’m not going to hurt you. I love you. You’re safe with me. You’re home. You’re in our penthouse in Avenger’s Tower. You’re safe.”

Tony was still breathing erratically and had closed his eyes again. Steve kept talking, knowing that his love wasn’t seeing him- didn’t know what he was seeing, actually. For what felt like hours but was likely only a few minutes, Steve stayed where he was and repeated the platitudes over and over again before Tony’s body was only vibrating slightly instead of violently and his breathing slowed. It took another minute or two and some coaxing before he would open his eyes.

Steve heaved a sigh of relief. “Sweetheart, can I come closer?” He slowly reached behind himself and pulled a large towel from the warming bar. “I have a towel, we can warm you up. You must be cold sitting on the tile floor.”

Brown eyes met blue and he nodded. 

Steve slowly made his way over to Tony, not standing up to his full height so as not to panic him again, and wrapped the towel around his quaking lover. “Can I touch you?”

Tony nodded again and reached up this time for Steve’s hand, pulling him down next to him and practically crawling into his lap. Steve wanted more than anything to wrap his arms around him but without knowing what had triggered the attack he was hesitant to. Tony had curled up in his lap and tucked his head under Steve’s chin, but then started shaking again. On instinct, Steve brought his arms around him and started rubbing his back and was pleased to find that it seemed to calm him. Reassured that he wasn’t about to trigger him again, he tightened his hold so Tony felt more secure and started rocking him, murmuring “I love you, you’re safe,” over and over and planting the occasional kiss to his head.

Within 10 minutes, he was asleep in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony's been a bad boy keeping secret meetings from Steve, but that's just the beginning. He's good at hiding things and it just may get him killed. Things are going to start going downhill fast in the next chapter, so stay tuned...
> 
> Sorry my posting schedule is so erratic. There's no rhyme or reason to it, I just need to get this story out of my head before it burns my brain.
> 
> So what does everyone think? I'm not making your brains hurt, too, am I? I'm trying to be relatively painless. Well, except for invoking some Stony feels... Which will be getting more intense, btw.


	8. Poltergeist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS WHAT COULD BE CONSIDERED TRIGGERING CONTENT- Read at your own discretion
> 
> Tony wants to tell Steve what's been going on, but things go downhill before he get's a chance to.

With Tony asleep and wrapped in his arms, Steve slowly stood up, trying his best not to jostle him as he walked from the bathroom back into their bedroom. He gently set the sleeping man amongst the sheets and blankets, pulling them over top of him to keep him warm, then made his way to the closet to pull out some underwear and pajama pants for himself. He debated also grabbing a pair for Tony and attempting to dress him but he didn’t want to run the risk of waking him and possibly triggering another attack.

Dressed for bed, Steve padded quietly back and slipped under the covers next to Tony. He rolled onto his side and propped his head on the palm of his hand with his elbow braced against the mattress, studying his lover’s face. He reached out tentatively with the other hand and brushed a stray lock of hair from his forehead, trailing his fingers over the worry lines that, even in sleep, were etched into his brow. They didn’t used to be there- Tony’s face always looked younger and more peaceful as he slept, unless he was having a nightmare. Both Tony and Steve have had their fair share of them, but ever since moving in together the nightmares have mutually dropped off considerably. They attribute it to the feeling of safety and comfort that they invoke in each other. For Steve, it’s hard to have a nightmare about ice when he has a very warm and soft genius snuggled up to his side. For Tony, Obadiah Stane can’t infect his dreams about the arc reactor with Captain America himself curled up around him, draping a protective arm across his chest. But now the worry lines- and apparently the nightmares- were back and Steve couldn’t understand what was going on in that brilliant mind and why Tony wouldn’t talk to him about it. The last time he brought it up to him, saying that he looked tired and hoping to coax him into a conversation about it, Tony had snapped at him. Granted, they bicker sometimes but Tony had seemed genuinely angry this time.

Exhausted from his unusually emotional night, Steve sighed and settled his head and neck against the pillows. He stayed on his side and wrapped himself around Tony, hoping it will provide enough comfort to keep the nightmares at bay and drifted off to sleep.

\----------

_Swings going back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth._

_“Wanna see something really neat?”_

_Thwick. Thwick. Thwick._

_“You have to promise not to tell anybody.”_

_Thwick. Thwick._

_“It’ll be our little secret…”_

_Thwick._

_Back and forth._

_“Such a good boy…”_

Tony sat up with a jolt, his heart in his throat and unable to breathe. He felt something weighing him down, around his waist and his legs and he started to thrash, trying to free himself from whatever had him trapped.

“Tony? Tony, calm down it’s okay. You’re in bed. You’re sa-umph!”

He felt his elbow connect with something warm and solid- his attacker. Feeling the weight move off of him, but still restrained by sheets holding him down, he continued to twist around until they loosened and then bolted off the bed.

“JARVIS, lights 75%!” A voice called out.

Tony stopped halfway in his tracks, recognition making its way slowly to his brain. He knew that voice. That voice meant safety and warmth. He whirled back to look at where he had come from, still expecting to see an attacker. Or a birthmark. But instead he saw only Steve kneeling in the middle of the bed with blankets, sheets, and a random bath towel pooling near his knees and the pillows strewn every which way- the one from Tony’s side tilted halfway off the mattress and grazing the floor. The half-dressed blonde was holding his hands up in a placating manner. There was a slight trickle of blood coming from his nose that looked to already have stopped before reaching the cupid’s bow above his upper lip. Tony took in the scene in front of him, his quick mind putting the pieces together despite the haze of the nightmare lingering in his mind, and he took a step back in horror.

“Oh, my God. Steve…”

“Shhhh, Sweetheart, it’s okay…”

“What? No! No, it’s not okay. Oh God, Steve, I hurt you.” He took another step back then fell over onto the floor when his calf collided with an ottoman from a chair that was situated near the dresser.

Steve started to move as though to get off the bed and help him, but then seemed to think better of approaching.

Only after feeling his bare butt hit the carpeting did Tony seem to realize that he was nude. “Why the hell am I naked!?”

Steve winced. “You don’t remember?”

Still sprawled on the floor, Tony tried to think back to what had transpired that night. He remembered the meeting at the diner. Rushing home to Steve with a guilty conscience and wanting nothing more than to feel his fiancé’s arms around him. The movie. The elevator. Their steamy love-making-

Oh.

Oh no.

Steve watched from the bed as the evenings events played out behind Tony’s eyes and he noticed the moment Tony remembered EXACTLY what had happened. “Baby, it’s alright. You had an anxiety attack. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Steve moved again to get off the bed, but this time Tony stopped him by putting up his own hands.

For a minute nobody moved. Steve itching to go to Tony and Tony wanting nothing more than to run from the room. But he was naked. That needed to be remedied first. With a whirl of flailing limbs, Tony stood from the floor and moved over the dresser, pulling drawers with enough force to remove them entirely from the piece of furniture if it weren’t for the drawer stops keeping that from happening. He pulled on a pair of sweat pants, nearly falling over again but steadying himself on the dresser’s edge at the last moment. He pulled a ratty band t-shirt over his head and slipped a pair of loafers on while hobbling over to the door, steps unsteady because of his roiling emotions and the backs of the loafers not situated correctly on his heels.

“Tony, wait, please. Talk to me.” By this time, Steve had managed to make it off the bed but he still hesitated. When Tony halted with his hand on the door knob, Steve approached slowly like he would a skittish rabbit. “Please. Something is bothering you and I want to help you. I love you, Tony. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together. Don’t shut me out.”

Tony looked anguished. His eyes said he wanted to talk but his body still looked ready to bolt. Steve held his breath.

The body won out. “I’ll be in the lab.” Tony turned the knob, stepped through the doorway and didn’t look back.

\----------

**FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd**

The sun had been up for about an hour when Steve finally headed to Tony’s lab. He hadn’t slept at all that night after being woken up by the nightmare and he knew the genius hadn’t either. He checked in with JARVIS multiple times, looking for updates on his status and JARVIS had replied the same way every time- “Sir is in moderate emotional distress and is working on the HYDRA/Chitauri remote. He wishes to be left alone.” At least, it had been the same response EXCEPT for the last time he asked.

“Sir wishes to speak with you.”

“How is he JARVIS?”

“His distress has lessened, but he is pacing. He’s making the bots very nervous.”

Steve hastened his steps even more and didn’t pause before walking through the glass lab door that JARVIS had kindly opened for him as he approached. The door swooshed shut behind him and the glass darkened into privacy mode. He only slowed as he got nearer to the pacing scientist who looked to not even notice him yet. Steve waited a moment before clearing his throat.

When Tony at last looked up, Steve noticed that he looked terrible. The worry lines that he had tried to smooth over the night before looked to be as deep as trenches and he was white as a sheet. Even those beautiful chocolate eyes were mildly-bloodshot, though it was hard to tell since once again Tony seemed to be avoiding his gaze. “Steve, I…” He bit his bottom lip and Steve fought the urge to move in to kiss those lips that were being worried so much. “I’m so sorry about last night. I really don’t know what came over me. That’s never happened before.”

“Tony, it’s alright-“

“No! You keep saying that, but it’s really, really not. Freaking out in the middle of sex and then elbowing you in the nose- making you bleed- that’s not alright.”

Steve looked down at the floor, bracing himself to ask the question that he knew he had to but not knowing how. When he looked up, Tony was still avoiding his gaze. That would not do. Not for such a personal conversation. He made his way closer, stopping only an few inches from Tony’s front and slowly brought his hand up to his chin, gently tilting his face up to encourage him to make eye contact. His face came up, but Tony’s gaze stayed glued to something off to the side. Steve sighed. “Tony, did something happen?”

Brown eyes snapped front and center, finally meeting blue. His posture stiffened, his arms ramrod straight at his sides.

“What do you mean?” 

“Did something happen to you? Did someone hurt you?”

Tony’s mouth opened and closed. Then opened and closed again. “Still not following.”

Steve’s other hand came up to cup his face. “The reaction you had last night. It seemed like a flashback. Did someone force themselves on you?”

“What!?” Tony stepped back, away from Steve. “No. No. God, no. Steve, it’s not like that. Just, no.” He shook his head. “No, nothing like that.”

Steve was about to move forward again- he’d chase Tony around the room if he had to- when a loud knock on the glass door interrupted them. 

“Who is it, J?” Tony asked, moving further away from Steve.

“It is Mr. Barton, Sir. He is screaming something about not breaking anymore promises to Captain Rogers-“ Steve noticed Tony pale, even though it hadn’t seemed that there was any more color left for him to lose, “-and demands that you hold up your end of the deal to join them for breakfast. And then lunch. And then dinner.”

Tony snorted, rubbing his tired face with his hand, and Steve shook his head. You could always count on Clint to add some levity to a heavy situation, even unknowingly.

“Tell him not to get his feathers in a twist, we’ll be up in a minute.”

“Of course, Sir.”

Tony sighed and Steve walked up to him again, bracketing the engineer’s arms with his hands and running them up and down to soothe him. “Let’s go eat. Then we’ll go upstairs and talk some more, ok?”

Tony seemed to hesitate again, but then loosened his posture and bit and leaned into the warm chest in front of him. “Yeah, ok.”

\----------

“Took you love birds long enough. With privacy mode engaged, God only knows what lewd moves you were traumatizing the bots with,” Clint leered before taking a huge bite out of a freshly baked chocolate chip muffin. “I’d‘ve let you be, but the corned beef hash is getting cold.” A few pieces of muffin fell out of his mouth as he talked and Steve gave him the stink eye.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Clint rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom.”

“So, he IS the mom? That makes me the dad,” Tony grinned, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Only Steve seemed to notice. “That means I’m entitled to make Dad jokes and make you kids pull my finger.”

“You already do that, even before you guys decided to officially adopt your status as team parents,” Natasha pointed out.

“Only once. You all were bugging me and I wanted to clear the room. Not my fault Thor didn’t know to say no.”

“You Midgardians certainly do have interesting physiology. I never would’ve known that you require digital stimulation to pass gas.” Thor took a bite of his poptarts, still not quite getting the joke. Thor was an intelligent guy- but there were still some Midgard-isms he hasn’t quite picked up on and Tony loved taking advantage of that. Fortunately, the Asgardian God had a good sense of humor.

Bruce snorted. “I’m not touching that with a ten foot pole.”

“What Bruce, you don’t want to have to explain to the God of Thunder the wonder of the human colon?” Tony was clutching a cup of coffee that Steve had poured for him to his chest, breathing in the delicious, aromatic steam but not quite seeming to relax.

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. “Seriously, do our conversations always have to go to the gutter when we’re eating?” 

“Blame your honey. We we’re discussing interior decorating before you two came in,” Clint said around another mouthful.

Bruce groaned and Natasha guffawed.

“Do I even want to know?”

“No, but Thor has something to ask you guys. Thor?”

“Ah, yes. I was telling our comrades how comfortable I am in my room here at the tower since Stark so kindly decorated it to remind me of home and we were discussing-“

“Thor, just ask the damn question.” 

Thor threw a glare at Clint for interrupting. “Without a proper retelling-“

“They’ll get the gist, or at least Tony will. Trust me.”

“Fine. We were wondering if the carpet matches the drapes in your suite. Apparently, that’s a very important part of home design in your realm. Though, personally I believe that as long as the color scheme is visually appealing-“

A snort from Natasha this time.

“-that everything should still go together nicely.”

Clint was trying so hard not to laugh, he nearly choked on his muffin.

“For the record,” Bruce spoke up, “I have absolutely NO desire to know if anyone’s carpet matches anyone’s drapes.”

Clint lost it.

Steve, who was just as confused as Thor, looked to Tony who had literally face-palmed and his shoulders shook with his own barely contained laughter.

Tony finally composed himself enough to give Thor a pat on the shoulder. “Well, Thor, as someone who has a lot of experience with interior design and carpets-“

Clint literally slid off of his chair and was laying on the floor in hysterics by the point.

“-I can assure you, that the color scheme isn’t the most important part. What’s MOST important is cleanliness-“

Bruce buried his face in his hands and groaned even louder than last time.

“- and making sure that the shag is the proper length in the all the right places. Well groomed, you would say.”

“Oh my God, Stark.” Even Natasha was red-faced at this point.

“And yes, the interior design in mine and Steve’s suite is very pleasing to the eye.”

Clint, Natasha and Bruce could barely breathe at this point. Tony looked cocky. Thor looked confused. Steve took this all in and said, “We’re not actually talking about carpeting, are we?”

Tony just arched his eyebrow and took a sip of his coffee.

\----------

Eventually the room calmed down enough that breakfast could continue. Steve didn’t want to drop it until he “understood that reference,” so Tony promised to explain it later when they went back upstairs. The wagging he did of his eyebrows only served to confuse the "man out of time" even more.

Bruce asked JARVIS for the time and jumped up from his chair when informed it was after 8:30. “Dr. Serafin is going to be wondering where I am at this point.”

Tony paled and muttered something about going back to his lab. Steve silently reached for his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze then ran his hand up and down his back to give him a reminder that they were going back upstairs to talk.

“Dr. Serafin has not come in yet, Dr. Banner,” JARVIS intoned.

Bruce started. “That’s weird. She’s been here on time the last two days. Has she left a message explaining why she’s late?” He checked his own phone and Steve decided to check his as well. “Nothing. You, Steve?”

“Nothing here.” Steve shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“She text you, Tony?”

“What?”

“Dr. Serafin, did she text you that she was going to be late?”

Tony gave Bruce a blank look, then shook his head. “No, she didn’t.”

“You didn’t even look.”

“JARVIS would’ve let me know. JARVIS, did Angela text me? Um, this morning. Did she text me this morning?”

“No, Sir. You have 7 text messages waiting to be read. 3 from Miss Potts and 4 from Director Coulson.”

Bruce gave Tony a quizzical look. “So, now YOU’RE on a first name basis with her?”

Tony looked down at his feet. “Yeah, well, she bought me coffee.”

“You now have 5 text messages and 1 voicemail from Director Coulson, Sir.”

“Uh huh.” The longer Bruce watched Tony, the more the genius seemed to squirm.

“You now have 6 te- you now have 7 text messages and 2 voicemails from Director Coul- you now have 8 text messages and 2 voicemails from Director Coulson, Sir. I strongly suggest you answer them.”

“Jesus, Tones, answer your phone already. I speak fluent Phil and that sounds like he’s pissed about something,” Clint said.

“Director Coulson, Agent Hill, and four more SHIELD agents have arrived at the tower and are-“ JARVIS cut off.

“JARVIS?” Tony instantly went on high alert. “J?”

Before the others could react, the elevator doors opened to reveal Coulson, Hill and the four unnamed SHIELD agents, who made their immediate way towards the communal kitchen. Any Avenger who had currently been sitting was now on their feet.

“What the hell, Coulson!? Did you shut off JARVIS? Fury teach you that trick?” Tony was furious. NO ONE interfered with his beloved AI.

Director Coulson ignored Tony’s indignant protests and instead turned a stony face to him and his team. “Mr. Stark, we’re going to need you to come with us.”

“Like hell.”

Natasha and Clint, familiar with SHIELD’s practices, both tensed. Coulson may have had his arms to his sides, but Hill and the other agents had their hands on their sidearms. Steve noticed too and took a step closer to Tony, ready to defend him if the need arose. The way his hand clenched told the team he was itching for his shield. Thor recognized the aggressive postures as the five agents stood ready to arm themselves and gestured to call his hammer, the move hidden from the view of their uninvited guests since he stood halfway behind Clint. Apparently Coulson could sense it even if he couldn’t see it and said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Thor.” 

“Aye.” The twang of reverberating metal sang through the air as Mjolnir came to his hand. “But you are not me.” 

Hill and the other four agents raised their weapons.

Natasha and Clint drew their own guns that they’d apparently had hidden somewhere on their bodies.

Thor raised his hammer at the ready.

Bruce backed away from both groups, breathing heavily through his nose, trying to keep Hulk at bay.

Steve, relatively defenseless, moved entirely in front of Tony and raised his fists as though they could stop bullets. Tony grew horrified and moved around Steve, stepping forward with his hands raised. He was not about to let his fiancé get killed in their own kitchen by their supposed allies without even knowing what the hell was going on.

“Ok, easy guys. Just calm down. Let’s not shoot first and ask questions later, okay? We’re on the same side,” Tony tried to diffuse the situation. Coulson, surprisingly nonplussed that his childhood hero had five guns pointed at him, raised his arm and slowly gestured for Hill and his other men to lower their weapons but keep them at the ready. The Avengers responded in kind, though both sides knew they could all easily kill each other in a fraction of a millisecond if things turned sour. Tony hoped to keep things looking sweet and made sure to keep his hands up. “So, what brings you all to our humble abode this fine morning? I’d offer you breakfast, but with Thor and Cap there’s no such thing as leftovers.”

“We need you to come with us, Mr. Stark,” Coulson said again, his voice neutral and giving nothing away. Tony felt Steve stir behind him and prayed he’d behave.

“Yeah, you mentioned that. Mind if I ask what for?”

“You’re under arrest-”

“Excuse me?” Tony’s hands dropped a tiny bit, in shock. The agent’s guns rose a few inches, not sure if Tony was about to reach for a weapon or call his armor.

“-for the murder of SHIELD Agent Angela Serafin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lil bit of humor mixed in with the angst. If you don't get the "does the carpet match the drapes" reference, ask a responsible adult ;)


	9. Interview with a Vampire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is interrogated and gets a taste of the fallout from his evening with Dr. Serafin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no triggering content in this chapter.

After dropping the bombshell of the reason for their visit, Coulson requested again that Tony go with them and not put up a fight. For a solid minute, all eyes were on Tony. He didn’t move a muscle, even to breathe, and eventually realized he had to do that to live when his chest started to burn. He let out a huff of air and asked, “She’s dead?”

“Yes, Stark, she’s very dead. And we have video evidence that shows that you were the last person to see her alive. So if you’ll please, come with us. I don’t want this to get ugly.”

Tony still had his arms raised and turned to look at the other Avengers, their faces showing varying stages of shock and upset. Bruce, in particular, looked like a deer in the headlights and Steve looked angry. The ones with weapons still held them at the ready, waiting to see how Tony was going to react.

“I, uh…” he struggled to get any words out, his mouth suddenly going dry. “I- yeah, ok. Ok. I’ll come with you.”

The agents looked about to lower their weapons entirely when Steve spoke up. “What? Absolutely not. That’s ridiculous, Tony didn’t murder anyone!” The agents reconsidered and kept their guns up.

‘”Steve-“

“No, Tony. There’s no way-“

“Which is exactly why I’m going to cooperate. This is just a misunderstanding. I’ll let them collect the evidence they need and it’ll speak for itself.” Tony was feeling a lot less confident than his words conveyed, but he tried not to show it. “Let them do their job. It’s alright.”

Convinced that Tony wasn’t going to give them any trouble and that the Avengers weren’t going to feel the need to attack to defend him, Hill and the four agents lowered and holstered their weapons. Once the agents were as unarmed as they were going to get, the Avengers relaxed slightly and lowered their own, Thor setting his hammer down with a loud, metallic THUD on the table. 

Steve was somewhat mollified but still looked unsure. “Fine.” He then looked at Coulson, addressing him. “You’re wasting your time. Tony has an airtight alibi. He was with investors last night in the early evening then with me. I’m sure the people he met and JARVIS will be happy to back up the story.”

Tony paled. “Steve, don’t. Just please, don’t. Don’t try to help.”

Hill spoke up. “Is that what he told you? Because the video we have from the camera mounted in the hallway of Dr. Serafin’s motel clearly shows Stark entering her room with her and then leaving alone about an hour later.”

Steve turned to Tony with a questioning look in his eye and Tony turned away. “You wanted to take me for questioning, I presume?” He cleared his throat. “Well, let’s go.”

Hill pulled a pair of cuffs from her belt.

Tony balked. “Is that necessary? I’m coming quietly.”

She arched an eyebrow at him. “You’re under arrest for murder of an agent, Stark. Probably the only reason you haven’t been beaten bloody is because you’re Iron Man and have an impressive posse.”

“I appreciate your professional courtesy,” Tony sneered, holding out his wrists. “Who says saving New York and the planet didn’t have its perks?” 

As Hill and another agent led a handcuffed Tony away to go downstairs to the waiting SHIELD vehicles and read him his Miranda rights, he refused to look over at Steve. He knew the situation looked and sounded bad but he also knew he didn’t do anything wrong, at least nothing as bad as what Coulson and Hill were implying. He just needed to play nice and let them collect their evidence so it could prove he was innocent. At the end of the day, he’d be released then explain everything to Steve and they’d move on from this. That was what he told himself, anyway.

\---------- 

Tony was left in the back of one of the SHIELD vehicles with one of the unnamed agents for what felt like forever. Tony assumed Coulson, Hill, and the other three agents had gone with Steve up to their penthouse to retrieve the clothing Tony had worn last night. They didn’t have a warrant but Tony had given his permission and so they didn’t need one. Anyway, he was sure Coulson would’ve found a way to get away with improper search and seizure so there was no need fighting it. He was a little upset when he saw a tow truck pull into the tower parking garage and then come out with his beloved orange Audi about 10 minutes later. He turned to the agent who was left to babysit him and growled, “There better not be even a nick on her when I get her back.” The agent didn’t bother to respond, but did give a smirk. Tony suspected that if the agent had his way, his beloved car would be smashed with a wrecking ball. SHIELD didn’t like Tony on a good day, and this definitely wasn’t a good day.

Finally, Director Coulson, Agent Hill, and the rest of their merry band of assholes came out- evidence bags in hand. They loaded up the back of the other car and pulled away from the tower towards a nearby airfield where a SHIELD jet waited for them. Tony was grateful they weren’t driving all the way to D.C.- three hours is a long time when the handcuffs binding your hands and arms behind your back are chafing. Tony hoped no one saw him being arrested when he was taken out of the tower. He didn’t see any paparazzi but nowadays everyone has a smartphone that they could film him with and send videos to TMZ. Pepper would have an aneurism if word got out that Tony/Iron Man was being arrested for murder. Stocks would drop. Children would cry. It would be a disaster. 

When they arrived to SHIELD headquarters, Tony voluntarily was finger printed and had his cheek swabbed to supply DNA to compare any evidence to. He also submitted to a physical exam, where a physician examined every inch of skin, looking for any defensive wounds. He didn’t like it, but he would do what he had to do to prove he was innocent. Tony only hesitated when they started taking pictures of his body, expressing how regretful SHIELD would be if any of them ended up online. Hill, who’d been hovering nearby the entire time making Tony incredibly uncomfortable, assured him the pictures would stay in SHIELD custody.

After being subjected to that humiliation, Tony was allowed to redress in the clothes he’d worn from home and left alone in an interrogation room.

For over TWO FUCKING HOURS. 

He sat in a horrible plastic chair that he was pretty sure doubled as a torture device as he was left with only his thoughts to occupy him. There was no two-way mirror but four cameras, one mounted in each corner- no blind spots. He knew SOMEONE was watching, so he tried asking a few times for a cup of coffee but no one ever came in to respond.

Eventually, Coulson and Hill entered and took seats on the opposite side of the table from him. Tony heaved a sigh of relief. “Never thought I’d be happy to see you two. I’m going stir crazy in here. Thought maybe you’d left me to rot.”

“The thought crossed my mind,” Coulson replied.

“Ouch. Never mind, I take it back.” Tony tapped the spot where the reactor used to be, waiting for some sort of response. None was forthcoming as Coulson and Hill stared impassively at him. “So, obviously I’m here to tell you my side of the story. But could a guy get a cup of coffee first? At the rate we’re going, I have a feeling we’re gonna be here awhile.”

Hill glared at him. “A woman is dead and you’re concerned about your caffeine addiction?”

“I’ve had two hours to stew in my withdrawal symptoms. The world could be ending and my primary focus would be coffee. Ever see _Zombieland?_ The cowboy looking for the last Twinkie? That would be me, except my goal would be Starbucks. Forcing an addict to go without their crutch is cruel and unusual punishment. It’s a sickness, I need my medicine.” Tony couldn’t stop his mouth. That tended to happen when he was nervous.

Hill harrumphed and rolled her eyes, but she gestured to one of the cameras behind Tony. “Room service will be here shortly. Is there anything else we can get you to make your stay more pleasant? A fluffy robe, some slippers?”

Tony glared.

Hill was unmoved. “What about a lawyer? I’m sure you have a whole team on retainer.”

“Only guilty people need a criminal defense lawyer and I’m innocent.”

She crossed her arms. “Well then, why don’t we start off with the elephant in the room and ask you what the hell you were doing with Agent Serafin in her motel room?”

“She preferred Doctor, or Angela, and that’s simple, we were talking.”

“Talking? About what?” Coulson asked.

“Stuff. And things.”

The agents looked unimpressed.

Tony sighed. “Look, she sent me a text last night saying that she thought Fury had another reason for keeping us separated and asked me to meet her at the Avenue Diner to discuss it. Ever the one for Fury conspiracy theories, I agreed. We met there, I think it was a little after 7:00, had a few cups of coffee and talked.”

“You went to the diner first?” Coulson made a note in a file he brought in.

“Yes. I don’t know how long we were there for, I wasn’t paying attention. Eventually she asked me to go to her motel which happened to be right across the street- by the way, you guys put her up in a shit hole, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves- so we could talk more privately. I was hesitant, but agreed. We went back to her room, talked a little while longer. She came onto me, so I left.”

Hill looked incredulous. “That’s makes no sense, whatsoever. You’re a genius and that’s the best you can come up with?”

Tony spread his hands. “It’s the truth. Sorry it’s so anticlimactic.”

Coulson narrowed his eyes. “The evening wasn’t anticlimactic for Agent-“

“Doctor.”

“-Serafin.”

Tony at least looked sheepish. “It was on my end. I’m sorry I can’t be more help than that.”

Hill had her lips pressed into a thin line. “I don’t buy it. We talked to Steve-“

Tony cut her off. “When?”

“Just now. Where do think we’ve been for two hours? The Avengers followed us here in the QuinJet, we decided to talk to them first. Steve says that you went to a dinner meeting with investors, or at least that’s what you had told him. We showed him the video of you at the motel-“ Tony winced, “and he was still insistent that there was a mistake. We gave Pepper Potts a call-“ at that, he groaned, “and surprise, surprise, there was no dinner meeting. He was quite upset by that.”

Now it was Tony’s turn to stare. They wanted a rise out of him and he wasn’t going to give them one. Of course Steve was upset, Tony know he would be when he found out that he’d lied about where he was going and who he was meeting. But he was confident that when he explained everything to him- the dreams and Angela’s connection to them- that Steve would calm down. Things might be tense for awhile, but their relationship was strong enough that Tony believed they would work it out.

Agent Hill realized he wasn’t going to react, so she pressed on. “So, if it was all just an innocent conversation over coffee, why the secrecy?”

“I kept if from him because I knew he would be mad if I met up with her, or even try to stop me. But I had questions and she was offering answers. I’m a scientist, the desire to figure things out is ingrained in my DNA.”

“I think you had a different desire.”

An agent walked in with a cup of coffee- sans cream or sugar, but whatever- and placed in the middle of the table without a word, then left. Tony picked it up trying to absorb the warmth. He hoped the two people in the room with him didn’t see his hands shake, but he doubted they missed it. They were spies, after all. He took a tentative sip, which scalded his tongue and couldn’t suppress a wince. It was horrible, but he needed the caffeine to stay awake and beggars couldn’t be choosers. “What are you implying?”

“Here’s MY theory.” She leaned forward as though about to tell a juicy story. “Bruce mentioned that she was kind enough to buy you coffee and you saw an in. Your favorite past-time seems to be pissing Fury off, so what better way to give him the middle finger than to do the very thing he was trying to prevent. You took advantage of the situation, and offered to return the favor by treating her to an after-dinner coffee to ‘repay the favor.’ Dr. Serafin wanted to make amends, so she agreed. You played the part of a gentleman, offering to walk her back to her motel afterwards. You then turned on the Tony Stark charm that SO MANY women have fallen for before and got yourself invited in. Things happened. Somehow she ended up dead.”

Tony sputtered. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. That is NOT what happened AT ALL. I’m telling you, she invited ME out. All we did was talk and she was very much alive when I left. I could understand you thinking I slept with her, even though I didn’t, but do you honestly think I could kill somebody? Jesus Christ.” He ran a shaking hand through his hair.

“Still sure you don’t want that lawyer?” Hill continued.

“Fuck you.”

“Sorry, I don’t buy into your charm.”

The table was silent as they sat at an impasse.

Coulson leaned back and gave Tony an appraising look. “You say she texted you first. We hacked your phone after confiscating it. All we saw was you thanking her for the coffee. Where’s the invite?”

Tony gulped. He knew he’d regret deleting the messages. “I deleted them, wiped them from the server. I didn’t want Steve to find out before I was ready to tell him about meeting her. If you doubt my story so much, check HER phone.”

“We can’t right now- the blood shorted it out. But believe me, we will be.” Coulson paused for dramatic emphasis and seemed to take pleasure in seeing him turn green. “So you planned on telling Steve that you had betrayed and cheated on him?”

Tony narrowed his eyes at Coulson, swallowing down his revulsion at the mental image of a phone water-logged with blood. “I didn’t cheat on him. Or betray him, I just needed to figure some things out before I went and told him about what was going on.”

“Figure what out?”

A small part of Tony wanted to tell the whole story. The dreams. The anxiety attacks. What he and Angela had talked about. All of it. But if they honestly believed that he would cheat on Steve or that he was capable of murder, how likely were they to believe his excuse for his behavior? They already pegged him as guilty. He SHOULD get a lawyer, at this point. But once he made up his mind, he was stubborn to change it. The evidence, or lack thereof, would prove his innocence. Telling the agents about the inner workings of his mind would just make them think he was crazy. So he settled for non-specific answers to tide them over until the evidence proved he was telling the truth. “Why Fury kept us separated.”

“Why does that bother you so much?” Coulson tilted his head, as though simply curious. You’d think they were discussing the weather and his nonchalance made Tony want to slap him. And people said HE was unfeeling.

“Because his reason was bullshit! There had to be more to it!”

“Obviously it wasn’t bullshit, seeing as how just three days later we have proof of you having an affair with her.”

“You have proof of me being in her motel room, not proof of an affair.”

“Knowing you, it’s the same thing. Tony Stark doesn’t meet a woman in her motel room and not have sex with her.” Coulson delivered the last line with a cold stare.

Tony scowled. “I think we’re done here. I told you my side, and when the forensics come back I hope you feel like an ass.”

Coulson and Hill stood up, making their way to the door. Before they left, Coulson sent a parting shot over his shoulder. “I’m not worried about that. Someone will be by shortly to take you to your cell. I hope orange is a good color on you. I know it is on your Audi.”

They walked out, leaving a furious Tony Stark in their wake.

\----------

Tony spent the night in an orange jumpsuit on a stiff cot, under a thin blanket, in a cold cell. He dreamt of children playing jump rope and singing. He dreamt of warm fire on a winter night. He dreamt of blood and metal, and a man’s voice saying, _“Such a good boy,”_ before he finally woke, shaking in his bed- not from cold, but from sheer terror. He woke to find blood dripping from a gash over his collar bone. He woke to find himself without Steve. It was one of the worst nights of his life.

\----------

**SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd**

Tony was in the corner of his cell, sitting on his cot with his back to the wall when Maria Hill showed up in the morning outside his door, unlocking it with the swipe of one of those damn key cards. He couldn’t see it, but he knew a little green light lit up before the door slid open. 

“Miss Potts posted your bail. I’ll take you to a changing room then you’re free to go back to the New York. If I were you, I wouldn’t do much travelling. Don’t want to look like you’re running, Stark.” 

Tony stood up and followed her wordlessly. The toilet paper that had been used to staunch the blood from the cut over his collar bone hidden in his jumpsuit. When he used the restroom before being released to meet Pepper in the waiting area, he flushed it. If anyone asked about the few drops on the jumpsuit, he’d say he got a nosebleed.

\----------

The drive back to the airfield to the waiting SI jet was tense and silent. Pepper’s barely contained fury was bubbling under the surface and Tony was afraid to as much as cough. Happy was driving, but he remained stoic and never spoke a word. When they pulled up, Happy exited to come around and open the doors for them but Pepper asked that he instead close it and give them some privacy.

Tony knew he was in trouble and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could get a word out, Pepper interrupted him. 

“What THE HELL were you thinking!?”

Tony knew it was rhetorical question and kept his mouth shut.

“Not only did you cheat on your fiancé, who happens to be the BEST THING that has EVER happened to you, but you used me to do it.”

He finally opened his mouth to defend himself, but again Pepper interrupted him. Only this time it was with a hard slap to the face. Pepper might have been petite, but she packed a lot of power in that small frame and Tony saw stars.

“Did you ever cheat on me?”

Tony stayed still, not responding. He didn’t know if he’d get a word in anyway before she’d interrupt or assault him again. This time, though, she actually seemed to be waiting for an answer.

“Answer me. When we were together, did you. Ever. Cheat. On. Me?”

Tony took in her crossed arms, stiff back, and red-rimmed eyes. He wanted to walk away, to not even dignify her question with an answer, but he needed to make her understand. “No, Pepper.” He looked her right in the eye. “I never cheated on you. Just like I never cheated on Steve.”

His response only seemed to make her angrier. She gathered her purse and briefcase, barely able to manage the straps because she was trembling so much, and knocked to have Happy open the door for her. After she climbed out, Tony made to follow her but she stopped him with a shaking hand. “I’m taking the jet back to Malibu, I have to get to work on damage control if word of your arrest leaks. I’m not even going to BEGIN to yell at you about the ramifications this could have for the company because if I start I will never stop. Happy will drive you home. Good-bye, Mr. Stark.” The door slammed in his face.

\----------

Happy kept the opaque divider up the whole 3 hour drive back to New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if people don't agree with Pepper's behavior or thinks it's OOC. She doesn't always react well to Tony's shenanigans and I figure getting arrested for murder is probably one of the worst things he could do. I also got the impression in IM:3 that Happy had a closer working relationship with her than Tony at the time, being more in charge of security at SI than anything. Also, given the fact that in IM: 2 he sided with Pepper, prompting Tony to joke that he "lost both kids in the divorce," I have a feeling Happy would take her side in this scenario, as well.
> 
> Hope you're enjoying the story! Be sure to kudos and comment!


	10. The Ring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets a reaction that he wasn't expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no triggering content in this chapter.

When Tony arrived back at the tower, there was no one there to greet him. The communal kitchen and living room were empty.

“JARVIS?”

Silence.

“Come on, Buddy. You’re not giving me the silent treatment, too, are ya?”

Still no response. Then Tony remembered that Coulson had shut him down prior to his arrest and headed up to the lab. He hoped he would run into someone in the elevator or hallways, but there was no one.

As he walked into the lab and there was no lilting British voice to greet him, he was unnerved. It was bad enough that there was no sign of the team, but there hasn’t been time since he created JARVIS shortly after graduating from MIT that the AI hasn’t been there. He only time he was ever so thoroughly silenced was when Obi-

Tony mentally ran away from that thought as fast as his neurons could carry him and promptly made his way over to the computer that had access to JARVIS’ mainframe to get to work. After 20 mins, his trusty companion was back in working order.

“Good morning, Sir. It is 11:46am on Saturday, February 3rd and it is currently 27 degrees and sunny. There is a 30% chance of precipitation this evening beginning at 6pm, with no notable accumulation to be expected. Would you like information on the closing stocks from last evening?”

Tony heaved a sigh of relief at hearing his beloved AI’s voice, at least one thing having been righted in his world. “Not right now, J. Where are the others? Where’s Steve? I need to talk to him.” More drumming of his fingers on his chest. Fixing JARVIS was easy, it was fixing things with Steve that would be more difficult and his stomach knotted at the thought that his fiancé spent all night with the idea that he had cheated floating in his mind. This was all Coulson and Hill’s fault. Granted Tony had lied but if he’d had a chance to explain to Steve before they had gotten to him, it wouldn’t have spiraled out of control. The fact that it had been Pepper to retrieve him from SHIELD and not Steve spoke volumes about the strained status of their relationship. But Steve was patient and understood him better than anyone, even more than he understood himself sometimes. Steve had also been wanting to help him with his nightmares and Tony knew that once he explained that what he had done had been BECAUSE of the nightmares that he would forgive him. He just needed to talk to him.

“Captain Rogers, Miss Romanoff, Mr. Barton, Dr. Banner, and Thor are currently in the sparring corner of the gym.”

Tony sagged into his chair and ran a hand over his tired face. DUM-E came over to him, holding a cup of coffee. Apparently he had gotten started on it as soon as Tony had entered earlier. Tony pretended to take a tentative sip and made an exaggerated “mmmmmmmm” sound, then patted the bot and said, “Thank you, much better.” The bot gave a happy beep and spun away. He had realized early on that the chances of DUM-E adding motor oil to his coffee increased exponentially whenever he was sick or run down. The little bot seemed to believe that since oil changes made HIM feel better that it would have the same effect on his creator and Tony appreciated the sentiment. He figured he had to look pretty haggard at this point, since he had only averaged maybe two to three hours of semi-restful sleep each night over the last five evenings and last night had been the worst of all. He was used to going with little to no sleep but this was getting to be too much, even for him. 

“Are they training?

“No, Sir. They had been sparring earlier, but now they are simply talking.”

Tony absently itched at his collar bone, then winced when he felt the sting reminding him of the deep cut there. He pulled away the neckline of the t-shirt and looked down to see that it had started to bleed again. Fortunately, it didn’t look like it needed stitches. As he released his shirt, he caught a whiff of himself and almost gagged. He tried to remember the last time she showered- Thursday morning, maybe? Gross.

“How does Steve look? Does he seem upset?”

JARVIS paused. That wasn’t good. “He does appear to be in distress.”

Shit. “Does the team know I’m home?”

“Yes. Even though I could not communicate or carry out anything other than basic operations after I was hacked by Director Coulson and his team, I was still aware of the goings on in the tower. Agent Hill called approximately four hours ago to inform them that Miss Potts had posted your bail and that you should be returning this morning.”

Tony put his head in his hands, trying to figure out where to go from here. He hoped the team was succeeding in trying to calm Steve down. The fact that he’d sparred with them first was a good thing- he’d get his frustration out and then the team would talk some sense into him, explain that Tony would never cheat on him. Even though he had thrown out on the helicarrier shortly after they met that he was “genius, billionaire, PLAYBOY, philanthropist,” the team had quickly noticed that his playboy days had been over, that they’d ended after he returned from Afghanistan. He still flirted but in the time between his relationship with Pepper and his relationship with Steve he’d never brought a lover home. They’d all been to galas and ceremonies together, where they’d see women and the occasional man throw themselves at him only to be politely declined. Clint had joked that he was losing his edge, but the truth was that at the time Tony had been more interested in a certain super soldier whom Natasha had hinted might be reciprocating. They would remind him that it was TONY who’d proposed first, that it was STEVE that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. “Always and Forever”- that was the endearment they always used when they were being particularly sappy and it was as true now as ever.

Yes, the team would help Steve see reason and then Tony would be able to explain what was going on to him. He needed to be smelling decent when they kissed and made up.

Tony stood up from the chair and made his way to the elevator, heading to the penthouse to clean himself up.

\----------

Steve was seated on the sparring mat on the floor of the gym, his legs crossed at the ankles and knees brought up to his chest while his arms rested across the top, one hand holding the opposite wrist. His concerned teammates were seated in a circle around him, their postures tense and protective, trying to be reassuring.

After the phone call from Hill in the early hours of the morning, Steve had gone down to the gym to vent his various emotions on the punching bags. After giving him an hour to himself, Natasha had followed him down and offered to spar with him. She hoped it would give him an opening to talk to someone more forthcoming than an inanimate object. He accepted but was slow to offer anything vocal other than the occasional grunt when she got a decent hit to him. The fact that she was able to get as many in as she did was a good indicator of the turmoil his thoughts were in. Usually she would chastise him for letting his guard down, but instead she just encouraged him to try to hit her harder. He needed to get it out and she could take it. It wasn’t until Clint joined them and he double-teamed with her against him that Steve seemed to slow down. Eventually Bruce and Thor joined them as well, bearing ice water and a clean towel. He gratefully accepted their gifts and mopped the sweat off his brow, then nearly collapsed to the spot and the position he was currently in. Taking that as their cue, the other settled in to lend their support.

Steve hadn’t said anything the night before, still in shock from what had happened at the facility in D.C. They’d followed the SHIELD jet and immediately after landing went about trying to find out more information about where Tony was and details about Dr. Serafin’s murder. Director Coulson and Agent Hill had been sympathetic and taken them to a conference room to fill them in on what they could- it was still an open investigation. Afterwards, they’d questioned them about what had happened on their end, about any interactions between the victim and suspect they might have witnessed and what they knew of Tony’s whereabouts the previous evening. Bruce told them everything he knew about their interactions, which hadn’t been a lot. Steve had reiterated that Tony had an alibi and only wavered slightly when confronted with the video of him at Dr. Serafin’s motel. It wasn’t until they put in a conference call to Pepper Potts and she’d informed them that there had been no such dinner meeting that Steve started to crack. They started gently questioning if Tony had been acting weird and Steve’s expression spoke volumes. With a bit more prodding (and obvious embarrassment), he opened up about what had happened in their bedroom that night after Tony came home from his “dinner meeting” and the following morning. He described the guilty looks that he had brushed off as Tony feeling bad for missing dinner with the team. By the end of it, everyone could tell that Steve was barely containing his upset and they decided to end the conversation after garnering assurances from him and the rest of them that they would call if they remembered anything else of importance. They all agreed that while the circumstances were EXTREMELY suspicious, Tony wasn’t a murderer. The other agreement about him apparently being a cheater went unspoken. Even Clint, who never missed a chance to crack about Tony, was stoic. Before they left the conference room, Coulson offered to let them watch the interrogation. They found Tony’s nonchalance and flimsy excuses to be revolting and his claim that Dr. Serafin had come onto him laughable. After Coulson and Hill exited the interrogation room, the team departed and returned to the tower. Steve didn’t speak the entire ride home- no one did- and silently went to the floor that had been his before moving in with Tony.

Bruce cleared his throat from his spot on the mat. “There has be more to the story than what we’re hearing.”

Clint snorted. “Yeah, the sordid details.” Natasha nudged his knee with her foot and widened her eyes at him in warning. He winced, but didn’t take back what he said.

“Tony hated Dr. Serafin. You didn’t see his reaction to the coffee she bought him. His sputtering was almost comical and he was furious that I’d accepted the tea so easily. How could he go from that to supposedly sleeping with her in less than 12 hours?” Bruce continued as though Clint hadn’t spoken.

When Steve finally spoke up, his voice was from hoarse with his emotions. “You didn’t see him that night. Everything about him was off. The desire to go to bed early. The guilt in his eyes. The panic attack-“ he cut himself off, struggling to continue. He looked down at the mat, steeling himself. When he looked back up, his eyes were wet. “I was worried about him. I thought someone had hurt him. But it was just another manifestation of his guilt.”

Thor joined in. “You don’t know that for certain. The reaction you described is more reminiscent of being injured than infidelity.”

“I asked him. I know when he’s lying, I can see it in his eyes. That’s probably why he didn’t move more than five feet from the elevator when he came down to tell us he was leaving. He wasn’t lying about his reaction. He’d avoided my gaze through most of the conversation, but when I asked him if someone had hurt him he was looking right at me and told me no. He was telling the truth. That was the only time he WOULD meet my gaze. It was everything else he said that was a lie. And I was an idiot to believe him.”

“Steve-“ Natasha reached out and placed a comforting hand on his arm but he shrugged it off.

“No, Nat. Let’s not sugarcoat it, okay? I was idiot to believe his lies, all of them. That he loved me, that he would never hurt me. What do you call this? I’m pretty fucking hurt. It was everyone else who told me otherwise that I should’ve listened to. The journalists, the TV show hosts- everyone who laughed when news broke of our engagement. They all said that Tony Stark was a playboy who couldn’t be tamed, that I was delusional if I believed that my pretty face and six-pack abs would keep Stark in our marital bed. That he’d tire of my old-timey ways and run off to find someone more his speed. I brushed them off and now look where we are. They called it.”

The room was silent. No one knew what to say. They’d all believed Tony would never cheat on Steve but the evidence that they’d seen so far was pretty irrefutable. 

Steve shook and his voice wavered as he choked out an anguished, “They fucking called it.” As a tear escaped and trailed down his cheek, Nat scooted closer and wiped it away for him, pulling his head down onto her shoulder and wrapping an arm around him.

No one spoke as everyone tried to be comforting with their presence alone.

Eventually, the silence was broken as JARVIS’ voice filled the room. “Sir is home and inquiring as to your whereabouts. I informed him of your location but he has yet to head in your direction.” The entire group tensed.

Steve brought his head up and angrily brushed away another tear that had escaped.

“I vote we make sure we’re not here when he does,” Clint said. Everyone, sans Bruce, nodded but no one stood up, waiting for Steve to make the first move to leave.

After a few minutes, Steve nodded again and made to stand. Thor managed to make himself vertical first and reached out a helping hand to pull him up, then clapped a hand on his shoulder and pulled into what Tony had dubbed once a “bro hug.” The rest followed and they made their way to the elevator.

Bruce spoke up. “Why don’t I make some lunch and we get some food in that enhanced and perpetually empty stomach of yours? You must be hungry. Can’t have our fearless leader collapsing on us, now could we?”

Steve gave a small laugh, the first one they’d heard in a while. “Does it always come down to food for you, Doctor?”

He smiled at him. “Hippocrates once said, ‘Let food be they medicine.’ It’s also the world-wide, multi-cultural symbol of love and comfort. You could use some of that, right about now.”

“Aye, and multi-realm. We, too, show our affection to others on Asgard by making sure their mouths are never empty of the finest delicacies that one could offer,” contributed Thor.

Steve’s smile slipped as he remembered all the times he had shown Tony how much he loved him by making sure he never missed a meal. “I think I’ll go take a shower first, I reek.”

The others nodded their acquiescence and Bruce said, “I’ll be sure to make plenty so you can have your fill when you’re finished.”

The door opened to the communal floor and everyone besides Steve stepped out, giving him comforting half-smiles as the door shut. He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as the elevator continued the climb. All of a sudden, it stopped at a point that he knew was between floors. “JARVIS?”

“You didn’t dictate and I didn’t want to assume.” The AI paused. “Which floor would you like me to take you to, Captain Rogers?”

Steve started. He wasn’t sure. Since JARVIS was back up and running, it might be safe to presume that Tony was in the lab but he couldn’t be sure. It’d been a few minutes since JARVIS had told him that he was looking for him. He could be waiting for this very elevator to take him to the gym. He cleared his throat. “Where is Tony, JARVIS?”

“Sir returned to your shared penthouse a few minutes ago and is currently showering.”

That made the decision a lot easier. “Take me to my floor. My OLD floor. And don’t tell Tony where I am.”

Another pause. “Of course, Captain.” The elevator resumed. 

All of Steve’s toiletries were still in the penthouse but he figured there might be a bar of soap on his floor somewhere. Worse came to worse, he’d check his kitchen for dish detergent. At least he knew he had a few towels.

Upon entering his old home, he went straight for the bathroom and began tearing apart the under-sink cabinet. He was rewarded with a bar of Irish Spring that had fallen to the back. As he started the water and began to undress, he called out, “JARVIS, lock down my floor.”

“Certainly.”

The AI may not tell Tony where he was, but he didn’t want to run the chance that he’d be able to find him on his own accord. 

Steve knew that they’d have to talk. But not right now.

After everything he’d done, Tony could wait.

\----------

After getting out of his own shower and feeling a little more human, Tony asked JARVIS again for the location of the others.

“Miss Romanoff, Mr. Barton, Dr. Banner, and Thor are in the communal kitchen.”

“And Steve?” Tony pulled on a clean t-shirt to pair with his jeans and checked his reflection in the mirror to make sure that the bandage he’d put on the cut on his clavicle wasn’t peeking out.

“Captain Rogers wishes to not be disturbed at this time.” 

Tony hesitated, wracking his brain trying to decipher what that could mean. Did he just need some alone time to process everything the team had undoubtedly assured him of? Or was he steeling himself for a fight? Should Tony leave him alone or would wallowing in the events of the last 48 hours put Steve more on edge? He decided that the best bet would be to go to the team and get their opinions as to how best to proceed. They’d have a better idea of his mental state.

He finished up shaving his van dyke into its usual neatness, brushed his teeth and checked again in the mirror to make sure he was presentable. He couldn’t do much about his pallor or the bags under his eyes unless he wanted to mess around with the makeup he used before public functions to cover up his weariness or the occasional cut or bruise from a battle. Deciding he didn’t want to waste more time and hoping that his pitiful state might help his case that he needed to meet with Dr. Serafin in order to rectify the nightmares he was having, Tony instructed JARVIS to turn off the lights and he made his way down to the communal kitchen.

What he found in said kitchen was not what he was expecting.

As he exited the elevator and turned the corner to enter, he saw four pairs of eyes come up to meet his and then promptly turn away. Natasha scowled, Clint outright glared at an opposing wall, Thor wore a thoroughly disapproving frown and Bruce diverted all his attention to the orange he was peeling as though it held the secrets of the universe.

Tony cleared his throat. “Good afternoon.” No one looked up. He walked further into the room to the kitchen table and leaned his hip against it, letting his knuckles hang down on to the wood and give a light distracted rap. “So, yesterday sucked. How’s Steve?”

Clint, who was perched on his usual spot on the counter top next to the sink and still glaring, this time directly at Tony, growled out, “How do you THINK he is?”

Taken aback by his teammate’s obvious hostility, Tony took a step away from the table and raised his hands in a show of submission. “Easy there, Legolas.” Clint scowled at the nickname. “Yesterday was a roller-coaster ride, I have no idea how Steve might’ve taken it. But it’s just a huge misunderstanding. You KNOW I would never cheat on him and so does he.” Tony took in the disbelieving looks from everyone. Well, everyone except Bruce who continued to study the orange. He started to panic. “You all know that, RIGHT? No one here actually believes what Coulson and Hill said. Please tell me you don’t believe them. Please, PLEASE, tell me you’ve talking some sense into him and not-“

“And not what, Stark?” Natasha slammed down the knife she’d been using to cut some sandwiches and it skittered across the table towards Bruce, who leaned back slightly as it came towards him. As it stopped a few inches from the plate with the discarded peel, he breathed deeply and went back to his task. His skin took on a slight green tinge but then faded away as he kept the Other Guy under control. Natasha looked slightly sheepish as she took in Bruce’s reaction, but then the fury returned when turned back to face Tony. Tony was glad she wasn’t holding the knife anymore. “Not consoling him after he beat his knuckles bloody on a punching bag? Not letting him take out his frustration on us on the sparring mat, even though he wasn’t in his best form- what with his roiling emotions and utter feeling of betrayal? Not wiping away his tears as he realized that EVERYTHING you had together was a lie? Would you rather we NOT do that?” Natasha lunged forward and grabbed the collar of Tony’s t-shirt, pulling him within inches of her face as she spat. “What WE did was try to pick up the pieces of the man you broke with your selfishness.”

Bruce finally looked up in reaction to Natasha’s move against Tony, though the others didn’t even twitch. His eyes glanced at the bandage that had previously been hidden by the shirt Natasha still clutched in her grasp. “What happened to your chest?”

Natasha looked down at the bandage, then released Tony, throwing him back and making him stagger to regain his footing.

Clint sneered. “Hiding love bites, Stark?”

Tony, still shocked at everyone’s reaction and not fully comprehending that his team had turned on him, muttered out, “Cut myself on the cot in my cell last night. Must’ve had some sharp edges.”

Bruce looked down, his eyebrows furrowed. He was remembering another poorly concealed cut on a now cold, dead hand that had also been explained away as the result of a sharp bed frame. He was about to open his mouth to ask something else when the sound of the elevator door opening stopped everyone in their tracks as all eyes turned to the super soldier who now walked in.

Tony moved towards him, turning his back on the rest of the room. “Steve, I need to talk to you! It’s not true. I wouldn’t cheat on you! Baby, please-“

Steve backed away, “Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that anymore.”

Tony looked devastated as he took another step forward. “Please, you don’t understand. I was going to explain everything to you yesterday morning. I should’ve explained it sooner, but I-“ he shook his head, “I should have told you sooner, but SO MUCH has been going on and I didn’t understand it myself. I still don’t, but we could figure it out together if you just let me-“

“Let you what, Stark?”

Tony’s face crumbled as the cold usage of his last name. Steve hasn’t called him that in years unless he was teasing. Judging by the look on Steve’s face, this was no joke.

“Let you spew more lies about where you’ve been, what you’ve been doing and who you’ve been doing them with? I’m done with your flimsy excuses.”

“Steve-“

“You don’t get to talk right now. I’ve heard enough.” Steve gave a hollow laugh and shook his head. “You know, I actually WORRIED about you and whatever has been upsetting you lately, but now I know it was just your guilt. Apparently you DO have a conscience, you just choose not to listen to it and I’m done picking up the pieces from your bad decisions. I trusted my heart and look what it got me. I should’ve listened to everyone who told me otherwise, that I needed to be leery of you and your MAN-WHORE ways.” Steve spat out the word and Tony paled at the insult that had been slung at him since he was old enough to pitch a tent.

“Steve, please-“

“NO! I believed you when you said that you weren’t like that anymore-“

“I’m NOT. I’m not like that. Steve, I wasn’t lying to you-“

“YES YOU WERE!” Steve shouted, his arms at his sides, shaking with barely contained anger. 

Tony took a step back and swallowed around the lump that had formed in his throat, trying to blink the tears from his eyes. This isn’t how this was supposed to go. He had been sure that Steve was secure in the knowledge that he loved him, would never do what he was being accused of doing. As he realized that everything he’d been so certain of could no longer be trusted, Tony took another step back, bumping into the table behind him. Five minutes ago he’d have said that Steve would NEVER raise a hand against him in anger, would never hurt him. He’d always been so careful in the bedroom not to let his lust and desire cause him to unleash the full force of his serum-enhanced strength. It has always been Tony trying to get him to let go a little bit, assuring him that he wasn’t made of glass. Now Tony wasn’t sure of anything. He may as well be made of glass for how vulnerable he felt right now. Steve could haul back and snap his neck with a well-placed punch and it was clear that no one else in the room would make a move to stop it. For the first time in his life, Tony was frightened of Captain America.

Steve continued his rampage. If he realized the fear he was inflicting on Tony, he made no indication of wanting to stop. “All this time I DEFENDED you. I PROTECTED you. It turns out it was myself who I should have been protecting from YOU.” He didn’t seem to realize the irony in his words as Tony cowed. “They were right! Everything that the media has said about you. That you were a slut, a selfish egotistical bastard who didn’t deserve a spot on the Avengers because you are the LAST PERSON anyone should look up to as a role model-“

“Steve-“ Bruce tried to stop the tirade but it fell on deaf ears.

“-that your obvious attempts to change your image was just you grasping at straws and some semblance of good PR. The ‘Merchant of Death’ was a good moniker for you- all you do is leave a trail of bodies and broken hearts in your wake.”

“Steve, stop-“

“Stay out of this, Bruce.”

Tony was gaping at Steve, his heart breaking in his chest and clutching the spot where the arc reactor had been for dear life. He couldn’t stop a tear from falling and trailing down his cheek. He tried one more time to make Steve see reason. “Please, Steve. I need you right now. I’m scared. There’s something-“ he took a deep breath, trying to stop his voice from shaking, “there’s something weird going on and I need your help. I know you’re angry and confused-“

“Trust me, Stark, the last thing I am is confused right now. I can probably say that I’m seeing clearly now for the first time since you showed up in my hospital room with my shield after fishing it out of the Potomac. I’m not going to let your lies cloud my judgment anymore.” Steve reached for his left hand with his right and Tony’s heart stopped beating entirely.

“Please, don’t-“ Tony choked on a sob.

Steve ignored him as he pulled the ring off his finger and threw it at his chest.

Time seemed to slow down at Tony watched the ring arc through the air, bounce off the spot on his chest that Steve had thrown it at and fall down to the floor. It rolled in an arc, first away from his feet then back towards him, bouncing off the toe of his shoe and then rotating in place, making a sickening sweet sound that rang as loud as church bells in Tony’s ear as it finally came to a stop, glinting in the sunlight. The glare from the sun right at Tony’s cornea made him blink, as his unshed tears made the reflection blind him completely.

The room stood still until Steve said, “I feel sorry for you.” He didn’t sound apologetic, only hollow. “The only one you hurt worse than everyone around you is yourself. If you couldn’t change for me- someone who loved you more than their own life- you’ll never be good enough for anyone. Yinsen was right,” a sharp intake of breath from Tony and Bruce, the only other person in the room beside Steve whom Tony had confided in about his time in Afghanistan, “you’re the man who has everything and yet nothing. That’s all you’ll ever be. I don’t know why I wasted my time.”

Tony felt his eyes dry up as he went numb, the only sensation making its way into his brain was the pain in his chest and the tingling of his hands as he continued to stare down at the ring on the floor. He couldn’t breathe. The only sound in the room was Steve’s heavy pants that he forced the air through his nose, his mouth drawn into a tight line. After a few erratic beats of his breaking heart, Tony bent down to pick up the neglected piece of jewelry with a shaking hand- a symbol of his love that Steve had promised to never remove from his finger.

As he turned the ring in his hand, inspecting it, his eyes lit upon the inscription that he had engraved on the inside- “Always and Forever.” His mind played back the memory of the two weeks he had slaved over it after spending the previous month combing every jewelry store in the state before expanding his search beyond New York. He worked with every jeweler he respected, even one from France, going over plans for a custom built piece but never feeling like anything they could make would be perfect for Steve. He’d finally settled on making his own, incorporating important aspects of both of their lives. Vibranium for the band, indestructible. Not only was it symbolic but it was also a handy spec to have in their line of work. The pieces of the shrapnel from Tony’s chest- a literal part of his heart. That part had taken the longest- polishing and shaping them so they’d be visually appealing before affixing them to the band. And finally the blue stones- a rare diamond that Tony had struggled to acquire- that perfectly matched Steve’s baby blues and the glow from the arc reactor that had once kept him alive but still powered his suits.

He also remembered the night that the ring box had sat hidden in his suit pocket, waiting for the perfect moment to get down on one knee and offer Steve his whole heart… 

_He’d been terrified but it helped that the night had gone off without a hitch. The table in the lighted gazebo that Tony had snuck up to the roof of the tower was set with the schwarma he’d had delivered, a throw-back to the humble beginnings of the misfit band of superheroes. He remembered getting down on one knee after they’d eaten and popping the question with a ridiculous spiel that he’d managed to mess up by going off on a tangent like he usually does. Steve had just smiled, his eyes shining with love and the reflection of the white twinkle lights that surrounded them._

_Before giving an answer, Steve had started to laugh- full-blown hysterics- and Tony had panicked, thinking he’d read their relationship wrong until Steve pulled him up off floor and kissed him breathless. Instead of taking the ring, Steve held his hand and led him down the few floors to their penthouse, Tony confused as ever. When they got to their bedroom, Steve walked over the dresser and pulled open his sock drawer, his back to Tony. When he turned around with something clearly visible in his hand, Tony gasped. A black velvet box, looking much like the one Tony still held in his shaking hands, sat perched on Steve’s palm. Steve smiled and walked over to him, sitting on the bed beside him. “I guess great minds think alike, huh?” he said and opened the box. “I was going to ask this Sunday after dinner with the team. Natasha helped me design it.”_

_Tony stared at the ring that Steve had chosen for him. It was beautiful and perfectly suited to his tastes. He gingerly pulled it out of the box to take a closer look, only vaguely aware that Steve was waiting for his own answer. He turned the ring over between his fingers, admiring the fine craftsmanship and the blinding shine of the red rubies and blue diamonds- Tony laughed, they were the same type he’d chosen for Steve’s ring- inlaid in the 24kt gold band. He looked to the inside of the band and tears welled up in his eyes- “Always and Forever” was etched in almost the same script Tony had used. “They certainly do,” he managed to choke out._

_Steve smiled that blinding American pie smile. If Tony hadn’t been sitting he’d have collapsed from the weakening of his knees. “So? What is you answer, Mr. Stark? Will you marry me?”_

_Tony smirked. “I asked you first.”_

_Steve held out his left hand and Tony placed the ring he’d made on the finger connected directly to his heart. Then he held out his own hand and Steve returned the gesture. The passionate kiss that followed led to more and the gazebo and schwarma was left to the birds. They didn’t clean it up until the following afternoon._

Tony looked up from the ring and the memories to look Steve in the eyes. There was no love there- no warmth. Nothing that he’d seen that night on the roof. He saw only anguish, pain and betrayal. And hatred. They weren’t the same baby blues he’d fallen in love with. And the words- those horrible, hurtful words that Tony would have NEVER thought Steve would ever say to him- were burned into his mind.

As his heart continued to shatter behind the false sternum, Tony went into survival mode. He channeled his inner- Elsa- ‘conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know.’ He stood up and straightened his spine, not even having realized at what point he had slumped in defeat. Still clutching Steve’s ring in his right hand, he used his thumb and forefinger to pull his own ring off and set it on the table behind him. Steve’s eyes had followed the movement but then went back to the face of his former fiancé. Steeling the strength of character he only used for the press and public, he went into Tony fucking Stark mode and calmly walked towards Steve who was standing next to the three foot wide support pillar that made up one end of the island that sat on the outskirts of the kitchen.

“You’re losing your edge, Rogers,” he said, stopping in front of Steve. “Should probably go back to target practice. Your aim was off.” Tony pulled open a small door that was built into the pillar and tossed the ring that he still had in his hand into the bucket that unfolded every time the door was opened. “You missed the garbage shoot.” As he shut the door, everyone in the room could hear the faint clattering that the vibranium jewelry made as it traveled down to inevitably disappear into the waiting dumpster below.

Without waiting for a response, Tony walked away and stepped into the elevator. No one said a word as the doors closed on the devastated remains of their leaders’ relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you may argue that Steve is OOC but I believe his reaction is an understandable one. We've all seen in the movies that when Steve is angry or hurt, he can be a vindictive little SOB. Just look at their interaction on the helicarrier in the first Avengers movie. There's something about Tony that makes people want to take him down a few pegs and I think that having his heart broken would give Steve plenty of reason to be cruel. Tony hurt him and he wants to hurt him back. Sorry if it upset anyone.
> 
> I'm SO HAPPY to have this chapter off my chest. It's one of the first scenes I'd imagined when this story first started flitting around my brain a couple of months ago and I'm hoping that writing it will purge it. There are more scenes coming up that I can't wait to write, so stay tuned!
> 
> So how is everyone liking it? Please feel free to leave comments with your theories, criticisms and praises. The bad guy will be revealed relatively soon but I'd like to hear what everyone is thinking is going on before I do so. Click that button!


	11. The Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony faces a new nightmare- this time knowing that he is utterly and definitely alone.
> 
> Steve makes a decision that will break Tony's heart even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POSSIBLE TRIGGERS FOR ANXIETY IN THIS CHAPTER. Reader discretion is advised.
> 
> Sorry for my SUPER LONG HIATUS. I lost my motivation and got distracted by other projects. I feel the urge to write again and I actually made up a timeline and rough- very rough- draft of how I want this story to go. 
> 
> I'm re-editing this piece as well. No big changes to the story, just clarifying the timeline a bit by adding actual dates. I re-read the story in it's entirety and realized that some parts were a bit confusing ("did Angela die on the second day or the third day at tower?" for example. The answer is the third day.) I'm also changing the chapter titles for fun- it was an idea I had awhile ago, back when I first started this story and finally decided to go ahead and do it. Check them out if you'd like to see what I'm doing :) I'm posting this chapter first, so give it a few hours before looking at other chapter for changes.
> 
> I have no beta, therefore all mistakes are mine.
> 
> I own nothing of Marvel or the, as yet unnamed, horror franchise/baddie.
> 
> Italics are dream sequences and phone conversations. It's easy to tell which is which.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Tony sunk to the floor, fisting his hair in one hand and grasping at his chest with the other. He couldn’t breathe. He closed his eyes, seeing the ring laying on the kitchen floor- discarded, but still beautiful.

The elevator started to go up, JARVIS silent and understanding that his creator needed his safe space. As it arrived at the lab, the doors slid open but Tony stayed where he was. He finally released a shaky exhale, followed by a short inhale then another sharp exhale. The AI recognized the signs. “Sir, you need to calm your breathing. You’re hyperventilating. Follow my lead and let me guide you. Breathe in, five second count… now out, five second count… in, five seconds… out, five seconds…”

Tony ignored him and instead opened his eyes, the lab extending beyond the doors and beckoning him. He stood up on unsteady feet and lurched into the space, almost bumping into DUM-E who had come rolling over immediately, concern for the man who gave him life making him even more clumsy. Tony collapsed again in the middle of the floor and placed his forehead on the cool granite, trying to draw in air as his body was wracked by sobs.

JARVIS tried again, “Sir, please, let me help you with your breathing. In for five seconds… out for five seconds…” Tony continued to ignore him until the AI threatened to alert Bruce, fearing he would pass out.

“Don’t you dare,” Tony growled out between shallow pants. “Don’t you dare tell anyone. JARVIS, activate protocol 121-“

“Please, Sir, don’t do this.”

“-61991.”

“Protocol 12161991 activated,” JARVIS replied, his voice almost sounding pained.

“Good,” Tony managed to get out. “You are not to report to anyone about me and you are to follow my every order, regardless of my safety. Is that understood?”

“Understood. Now, please, Sir, if you’d let me help you get your bre-“

“Lockdown the lab and engage privacy mode.” Another gasp. “Deactivate every existing emergency override code to my lab. Pepper’s, Steve’s, Rhodey’s, Bruce’s. Every. Single. One.” The windows darkened.

“Done. Sir, please-.”

“Mute.”

Tony sunk entirely to the floor, his breathing only increasing its pace as his fingers dug into his chest through his shirt, leaving marks on his skin and straining the fabric. The full body sobs making his lung’s job even more difficult. He could feel the pull of unconsciousness on his mind as his vision began to darken. 

Before he slipped into oblivion, his eyes alighted on and tried to focus on a lone, small figure standing a few feet in front of him. A boy, with chocolate soulful eyes and an unruly mess of tangled dark-brown curls, came a few steps forward then kneeled in front of him. The blue sweater he wore was embroidered with a logo that he couldn’t make out in his haze, the boy’s khaki shorts falling to just above his dirty, skinned knees. He brought a finger to his lips and went, _“Shhhhhhhh.”_ He reached for the hand Tony still held to his chest and whispered, _“We have to hide.”_

The darkness won out and Tony knew no more.

 

_Tony woke slowly to snowflakes landing delicately on his face, sticking to his eyelashes. He blinked, seeing a black, starless sky. He rolled over on to his front and pushed himself up, his hands depressing into a covering of snow._

_He spun around, trying to figure out where he was. “JARVIS!” His voice echoed back to him, the night silent. As more snowflakes fluttered by, his eyes took in his surroundings. He was on a sidewalk near a chain-link fence, the open gate leading into what looked like a school playground. His breath visible in the cold air around him, he walked the rest of the sidewalk and entered the yard, hesitating at a snow covered sign that hung from a post. He started to wipe the snow away, revealing ‘BAD-,’ before a sound caught his attention and he turned towards the school building that sat behind the swing set. After a few beats of silence, he was about to go back to the sign when he heard it again- the sound of a child whimpering. He walked towards the front door, the crunch of his footsteps in the snow the only sound he heard now._

_“Hello?”_

_He arrived at the door and peered through the windowpane. Seeing nothing but grime, he took his fist and rubbed away some dirt and snow and looked again. There was a child- the boy he’d seen in his lab- standing inside a few feet from the door, watching him. There seemed to be tears streaming down his cheeks as the boy silently cried._

_Trying the handle, the door opened with a loud creak and the snow that had accumulated at its bottom was pushed aside as he pulled the door towards him. The boy still stood a few feet away and Tony called out, “Hello? Are you okay?”_

_The boy didn’t answer, only reached out his hand beckoning Tony to take it._

_Tony walked the few steps towards the boy before stopping in front of him and kneeling down to get a better look. As his eyes fell to the boy’s face, he startled and fell back, almost landing on his haunches before catching himself by bracing his arm back and letting his hand hit the floor. He knew the boy- would recognize him anywhere. It was the same face that has looked back at him in the mirror for the last 41 years. He was looking at a young Tony Stark. He couldn’t have been more than five years old._

_The boy still hand his hand outstretched so Tony reached out to take it. Little Tony gave a tug on his hand and he stood and followed the child as they turned a corner and started down a hallway. The floor was tiled and the walls were cinder blocks that were painted white then decorated with colorful animals, numbers, and the alphabet. As they walked, Little Tony looked back and murmured to him, “Come on, we have to hide.” They passed a classroom on their right and Tony looked in. The classroom was empty save for three little girls, all dressed in matching blue dresses that bore the same embroidered school insignia as the sweater that his younger self wore. Two were swinging a rope and the girl in the middle was jumping. She locked eyes with him, never breaking her stride and Tony gasped as he noticed the birthmark that run across the bridge of her nose._

_“Angie?”_

_Thwick. Thwick. Thwick._

_The song that they sang echoed and followed them as Little Tony pulled him past the doorway and continued down the hallway._

_A few more feet and they reached another open door on the right, this time Little Tony stopped and gripped his hand tighter. There was a man, but he was hard to make out as he was backlit from the window. He was standing in front of the blackboard, leaning with his head pressed against it and his hands-oh, God, his hands- we’re bracketed on either side of his face supposedly hiding his eyes as he counted down._

_“5… 4… 3…“_

_Tony pulled the child up and into his arms and started running, his heart pounding in his chest._

_“2…”_

_His shoes, still wet from the snow, squeaked against the tile as he ran down the hallway. No matter how far or how fast he went, the end seemed to only stretch further and further away._

_“1…”_

_More open doors. More children._

_“Ready or not, here I come.”_

_Nails on a chalkboard._

_There was a solid, wooden door with ‘MAINTENANCE’ emblazoned across the front of it and he balanced the boy with one arm as he tried the handle. He could barely hear the footsteps that now echoed down the hallway behind him as his heart thudded in his chest, wanting to crawl up and out of his throat. The door opened and he stepped through…_

_…into his lab._

_He looked to the child in his arms only to find them empty and Little Tony gone. He spun around to go back through the door to see if the boy had been left behind, but all he saw was a concrete wall. He slapped his hands against it, trying to feel for any give but he pulled his hands back and hissed as they were burned. Instead of the cold that had permeated the building, his lab was stifling hot._

_Tony slowly made his way from the back of the lab where he stood towards the equipment that was scattered around. A panel of the fabrication unit where JARVIS sent the schematics for the pieces of his suit to be created was pulled away and flames licked at the inside._

_“JARVIS?”_

_No response._

_“DUM-E?”_

_Nothing._

_He continued making his way through the lab, observing the melted plastic and cracked glass of the numerous monitors as they, too, burned. The suits that lined the walls reflected the flames, the effect making it look like their eyes were glowing red. He stopped next to a concrete pillar but was careful not to lean against it, afraid of getting burned again. From this vantage point, he could see the clear glass that made up the walls at the entrance to the room and the elevator beyond them. He gave another glance behind him, hoping to see the boy, but there was nothing but the fire engulfing his lab. He turned back and started towards the entrance, only to be stopped before he took a single step as the man from the classroom stepped out from the other side of the pillar and Tony yelped. The man raised his hand and brought it down with a growl, raking it across Tony’s right arm which he brought up to block the blow-_

 

Tony woke with a gasp, sweat beading on his forehead. He couldn’t stop his shaking as he struggled to sit up off of the floor of his lab- which most definitely was not burning. Everything looked normal.

DUM-E was squealing nearby on his left, in obvious distress, his beeps as high pitched as Tony had ever heard them.

“Hey,” he tried to coo at him, but his voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Hey, Buddy, I’m okay.” He reached out his left hand to him and DUM-E rolled forward. “Everything’s okay. Shhhh.” When the bot moved, Tony saw that a pile of equipment that had been knocked off the table was laying all over the floor. “Did you do that? Such a klutz. Careful or I’ll make good on my promise to donate you to community college.” There was no heat in his threat. He mostly said it to make DUM-E realize that he was fine. The little bot dipped his head and made a soft whir. “I know you’re sorry. You’re always sorry.” He started to pat one of the bots struts to calm him, but then pulled his hand back as he realized that it hurt to do so. He took a look at one hand and then the other, seeing that his palms were red and tender. Like they’d been mildly burned...

Suddenly remembering his nightmare, he called out, “JARVIS?”

Silence. Oh no.

“JARVIS!?” His breathing hitched again but then he remembered. Breathing. He’d been mad at JARVIS…

“Unmute! JARVIS!?”

“I am here, Sir.”

Tony released his bated breath and lay back down, rolling onto his back. He was going to give it a minute before he tried standing up. “Good to hear your voice. How long was I out?”

“You were unconscious for approximately 32 minutes. Had it not been for the protocol in place, I would have contacted Dr. Banner immediately. Your vitals were highly erratic the entire time and have been yet to go back to a normal level.”

Tony groaned and threw his right arm over his face. “Glad I activated it then. I’m fine.”

“That would be the exact opposite of what I just said.” The AI paused. “Sir, your arm!”

“What?” Tony pulled his arm away from his face and held it a few inches away so he could take a look at it. Now that his attention had been brought to it, there was no way he could miss the stinging pain and the blood that streamed from a very deep gash across his right forearm. “JARVIS, did DUM-E cut me? Accidentally, did he bump me while I was passed out?” He stood up quickly, ignoring the way his vision swam, and made his way to the lab bathroom.

JARVIS’ voice followed him in and said, “DUM-E never made contact with you while you were on the floor. I communicated to him implicit instructions to stay away lest he accidentally harm you. I observed his actions the entire time. He never came close enough to you to make any wound, much less one such as that.”

“Well, did you see something?” He turned on the water in the sink and submerged the gash to clean it, letting the cool water sooth his forearm and palm. Leaving his arm under the stream, he opened up the medicine cabinet above his head and started to gingerly pull out gauze, tape and butterfly closures, careful of the other afflicted hand. He was about to shut the cabinet when he saw the super glue and grabbed that as well.

“No, Sir. I was watching you the entire time and never saw anything happen that would explain your injury.”

Tony winced as he slathered soap over the cut then rinsed it. He checked for blistering on his palms, but the skin didn’t appear to be bubbled or broken. “You’re no help.” He grabbed a nearby towel that he knew was clean and wrapped his forearm, trying to stop the blood flow.

“My apologies, Sir. You know what would help? Allowing me to contact Dr. Banner-”

“Mute.”

 

\----------

 

Steve stood staring at the garbage shoot for a few moments after Tony left the room, his face a mixture of horror and anger. Clint jumped off of his perch and made his was over to him the same time Natasha did. Thor stood rooted at his spot near the fridge and Bruce was still seated at the table, his orange abandoned as he focused on calmly breathing- in through his nose, out through his mouth.

“Oh, my God. What did I just do?” Steve brought his hands up to his face and slumped against the island.

“What you ‘just did’ was defend yourself. And you were right in doing so,” Clint said as he put a hand on Steve’s shoulder. Natasha nodded and rubbed circles into his back.

Bruce slammed his hands down all the table, bringing all eyes on him. “SERIOUSLY!?”

Clint jumped to his friend’s defense. “Seriously. Tony had that com-.”

“You don’t know that! None of you know that for sure!” Bruce stood up, waving his hands frantically as though he wanted to slap them all.

Natasha spoke up then. “He was lying, Bruce. Trust me, I know how to read people. That’s kind of my job.”

“Oh, yeah, and you did such a GOOD JOB reading Tony when you were spying on him a few years ago.” Natasha narrowed her eyes at him. “’Iron Man: yes. Tony Stark: Not Recommended.’ Remember that? We all took your assessment of him to heart and then we were all proven wrong when he risked his life to fly a nuke through a wormhole. You may be great at reading 99.99% of the people you come across, but you got Tony wrong then. Who’s to say you’re not wrong now?” Bruce ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “We have been proven wrong over and over again when it comes to making assumptions about him. I’m not saying he’s innocent but I’m not going to assume he’s guilty either.” He gestured at Steve, “You’re Mister Truth and Justice, but in the American justice system people are presumed innocent until proven guilty.” Steve shrank back onto himself. “I may be wrong, maybe he DID have sex her. But what if YOU’RE wrong? Do you understand what happened then, in that context?” He looked around the room, but only Thor and Steve looked marginally guilty. “You,” he pointed again at Steve, “used EVERYTHING Tony has ever hated about himself against him. You created a really bad ‘best case scenario.’ Worst case- he’s guilty of infidelity, he’s guilty of murder, and he goes to prison. Best case- he’s innocent of everything but all of our relationships with him are ruined. Either way, we lose Tony and the team loses Iron Man. Those jibes about him not deserving to be on the team go through his head regularly and you just confirmed for him, incorrectly, that we feel the same way.” He breathed heavily through his nose, his face tinting green again. Hulk REALLY wanted to come out. “I need to leave.” He moved away from the table, about to head for the reinforced room Tony had built for him whenever “Jolly Green” wanted to come out to play. Before he left, he turned back to Steve, his face softening a bit and his voice losing the edge it had during his tirade. “I’m sorry. I know you’re really hurting right now and I wish there was something we could do to fix it. But this,” he gestured to the room, “was not the way to go.”

He left a stunned room in his wake.

 

\----------

 

Following Bruce’s outburst, the team had dispersed, everyone heading for their separate floors. No one had an appetite anymore and the food was wrapped up by Natasha and put away.

As she closed the fridge, her gaze fell on two pictures that were stuck to the door with magnets. The first one was a picture of Tony and Steve. Steve was looking off the side, laughing at something that the camera didn’t capture. Tony was laughing too, but it wasn’t at whatever the super soldier was. Instead his intense chocolate eyes were glued to Steve’s face, the love in his gaze obvious to anyone looking at the picture.

The second photo looked like it was taken on the same night, Steve and Tony wearing the same clothing as in the first. This one was of the whole team- they must’ve recruited someone else to take the picture. A waitress, maybe? It looked like they were in a restaurant. There’ve been many nights like this, so it was difficult to remember exactly. Natasha took the photo off the fridge and smiled at it. Everyone looked so happy, smiling genuine smiles that sometimes seemed so hard to come by. Thor was on one end, holding a beer stein in the air. He probably smashed it after and demanded another. Next to him was Steve who had his arm around Tony. This time he was the one gazing lovingly at the other. Tony’s smile was the brightest of the bunch. He had one arm around Steve’s waist and the other around Bruce’s shoulders, who looked very relaxed despite the boisterous surroundings. Usually Bruce shied away from such loud get-togethers, but that night he looked to be in his element. Next to Bruce was Natasha herself. She held a martini to her lips and had an eyebrow arched. Then making up the other end of their Avengers sandwich was Clint, who was being his usual goofball self. He had his shades on and was making some sort of ‘hardcore metal’ face with his tongue sticking out and his hand in a ‘rock on’ gesture.

Natasha smiled wistfully and traced her friends’ faces with her delicate fingers. Then she frowned as she realized that Bruce was right. Even if the case against Tony fell apart and they found out he hadn’t cheated on Steve, things would never be the same. Not after today. Probably never again.

As she turned to leave, she caught a glint of gold out of the corner of the eye. Tony’s ring. It was still sitting on the table where he had left it. She pocketed the jewelry and left to go to her own room, her mind in chaos as she tried to make sense of what their lives had turned into in such a short period of time.

 

\----------

 

Steve was laying on top of the comforter of his bed, staring at the ceiling, when his phone rang. He wiped away the tears that hadn’t dried yet and pulled his cell out of his pocket to check the caller ID. 

Coulson. Steve groaned and hesitated to answer it. It seems that every time the man calls it messes up his life even more. Ever the dutiful soldier, he answered it anyway.

“Rogers,” he croaked. God, he could hear his own voice in the speaker and he sounded horrible. He cleared his throat and said again, “Rogers here."

_“Captain, I’m sorry to interrupt but I have a few things I need to discuss with you.”_ Coulson politely ignored the scratchiness of Steve’s voice.

Steve rubbed his eyes, bracing himself. “What can I do for you Director?”

_“We need a home base while we investigate Agent Serafin’s murder. D.C. is just too far away from the scene of the crime. I was wondering if you would be so kind as you allow us the use of the tower.”_

Steve sat up and swung his legs off the side of the bed. “Isn’t that a conflict of interest? Your primary suspect owns the tower.” He couldn’t bear to say his name.

_“We looked into it. Even though Stark pays the bills, he actually signed over the deed to the Avengers tower when he incorporated you guys a year ago. I remember him talking about it, saying it made things such as merchandising, insurance and the like easier if you all fell under an Avengers, Inc. umbrella. Apparently, that included things having to do with the building so he technically doesn’t own it anymore. And since you’re the recognized leader of the Avengers, it’s your decision if we’re allowed to use it or not. Obviously, you can say no.”_

He rubbed his hand over his face, ending at his lips and grasping them. Tony would not be happy to have them here but- “Would it expedite solving the case?” They both knew he actually meant, ‘Would it expedite clearing Tony’s name?’

_“It would certainly make things easier and possibly faster, yes.”_

“Okay, then. Yeah, you can use the tower.” Steve waited for Coulson’s response, but when none was forthcoming he started to worry. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

_“Yes, there was something else that I needed to address. You’re not going to like it.”_

He huffed an empty laughed. “So what else is new? Just tell me and get it over with.”

Coulson paused and Steve could hear him sigh, bracing himself for whatever he needed to say. Steve almost dropped the phone when he finally said, _“I need you to bench Iron Man and lockdown the suits.”_

“I-,” he stammered, “what?”

_“Stark is a suspect in a murder investigation. I don’t imagine you have protocols in place for this type of situation, but generally when someone who works for any type of law enforcement agency, whether they are police, FBI, a member of the judicial system, they are taken off of active duty until the case is resolved or they’re cleared of the charges. They also aren’t allowed access to the weapons that they normally would. Police officers have their government issued guns confiscated.”_

“But-."

_“We’re being lenient.”_ Coulson cut him off. _“Which is REALLY saying something considering that the victim was one of our own. Part of it is professional courtesy, part of it is not wanting to have to deal with Stark and his team of lawyers. He’s been cooperating so far, we want to keep what little good will we have with him so he won’t give us a hard time. We have legal grounds to confiscate the suits. But everyone remembers the shit-show that was the Senate hearing from a few years ago when the US government tried the same trick. We don’t want to pick a fight, we want to solve the case.”_ He sighed. _“We could do it forcefully or, as the team leader, you can order a lockdown. They’ll be nothing more than fancy statues until all this is cleared up, but they’ll still be in Stark’s custody.”_

Steve bit his lip. “How would I even do that? If I order him to do it, he’ll laugh in my face.” ‘Or worse,’ Steve thought, after the blow up they had earlier.

_“There’s a security code that Fury had negotiated with Stark to have put in place. He wasn’t happy about it and it took about a month to finally get him to concede, but eventually he did. At first it was only Fury who had access to it, but when he ‘died’ and made me Director it passed on to me. Since the Avengers aren’t part of SHIELD anymore, it would be a HUGE court battle if I attempted to use it, but I could give it to you. You have the authority to use it as-.”_

“As team leader, I got it. That sounds like a huge security risk. If anyone ever got their hands on that code and used it against Tony in a battle, he could get killed!”

_“It isn’t written down anywhere nor is any reference to it ever made in any SHIELD documents. Fury memorized it, then I memorized it. We know how dangerous it could be for it to get out and I assure you we’ve made every effort possible to ensure that it didn’t.”_

He sneered. “Just like you made every effort to take down HYDRA just to have them spring up under your noses?” Cheater or not, Steve was incredibly angry on Tony’s behalf. "Why does the code even exist? What is it meant to be used for?"

_“The suit is a computerized weapon and computerized weapons can be hacked. Not to mention, you weren't there for that infamous birthday party that he had while he was dying of Palladium poisoning. Stark was resistant to the idea, of course, swearing his suits couldn't be hacked and that those were extenuating circumstances, but Fury insisted that is Stark wanted to remain on the team that there had to be a fail safe."_

Steve felt his blood boil. "You mean, Fury threatened to kick him off the Avengers. Why wasn't I made aware of this code until now?"

_"There’s only three people in the world, four now, who know that the code exists, and only two of them actually know what it is. The more people who knew, the more dangerous it would be for Stark. Fury has been pretending to be dead because of standing up to HYDRA. I think at this point I’ve proved myself, as well. And I believe you wouldn’t abuse it, either. The point is, you know now.”_

Something Coulson said pinged in Steve's mind. _Only two of them actually know what it is..._ “Wait, Tony doesn’t know the code?”

_“For security measures, we kept it from him. His ability to hack our servers has been a pain in our asses since Day One. We couldn’t be certain he wouldn’t be able to use it to destroy the means we have to implement it. Sort of a reverse-engineering but with computer coding.”_ Coulson sighed, obviously aware of Steve's distress. _"Captain, if Stark doesn't take this seriously, if he decides to don the armor in anyway and is decided to be a threat, this could get alot more ugly for him."_

Steve hesitated. He didn’t want to use the security code- Tony would never forgive him for it. But, as it was, he had already done enough damage, what was a little more? It would ensure that Tony kept custody of his suits. He would be devastated if he lost them and Coulson was right- Tony could make SHIELD’s job a lot harder and right now it was more important that the case be solved and the charges against him dropped. “What do I have to do?” He could hear the other man’s sigh of relief over the phone.

_“I'm sending a link to a secure SHIELD login to your personal tablet. Login using your credentials, it'll take you right to a screen where there's a simple text box. I'm only going to say the code once, so don't forget it. Enter JH6FO8HB402.”_

Coulson waited patiently on the line while Steve brought up the screen as directed. When he got to the text box, he hesitated. Once he did this, there was no going back. He thought of Tony and his attachment to his suits. They made him feel safe. Steve used to invoke that same feeling, but he wouldn’t have that anymore, either. But they needed Tony to behave to get this mess cleaned up. He felt another twinge of guilt at disrespecting Agent Serafin’s memory by referring to catching her killer as a ‘mess,’ but he brushed it off. He needed to worry about the living. Even if Tony was no longer his fiancé, he was still a teammate. With a heavy heart, he typed in the code and hit 'enter.' "Ok, it's done."

_“Thank you, Captain.”_

Director Coulson hung up the phone and Steve Rogers hung his head.

 

\----------

 

A few floors above Steve's head, Tony sat in a similar defeated posture on the closed lid of the lab toilet. He had a towel still wrapped around his arm, trying to stop the blood from seeping through the two edges skin barely held together by superglue and sheer determination. From his perch, he didn't hear the locks on the bullet-proof cases surrounding each suit of armor click into place, barring them from creator.

From JARVIS' muted speakers, there came no warning that the next time Tony stepped foot outside the lab, the doors would be locked even to him.

Tony had never felt so alone and he didn't even know the depth of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close to revealing the baddie- not yet though. Possibly by chapter 13. Btw, I've come to the conclusion that this is gonna be a really long story. Buckle up kiddos.
> 
> Click the Kudos button! Better yet, leave a comment with your theories! Constructive criticism is also welcome.


	12. Get Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony learns the scope of Steve's betrayal and Steve makes his position known to Director Coulson
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry it took so long to post a new chapter- I really struggled with this one. This is more story building and less horror- hope it doesn't disappoint!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: contains a depiction of an anxiety attack. Read at your own discretion.

**SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd (continued)**

 

When the flow of blood from his arm finally stopped, Tony tossed the red (formerly white) towel on the floor near the small shower stall. Well, small by Tony Stark standards, but larger than those found in most homes. His mind not having caught up his heart, he thought for a moment that Steve would get huffy if he found the discarded towel on the floor. He started to pick it up, then remembered that Steve no longer gave a damn what the state of his lab bathroom was and dropped it again out of spite. Steve doesn’t care that there’s a towel on the floor and he certainly wouldn’t care that it was covered in such a vital body fluid as his former fiancée’s blood. A lot of blood, actually, Tony realized as he swayed a bit on his feet and grabbed onto the lip of the sink for support. His gaze travelled down to where his hands clung to the edge with a white knuckled grip, his eyes catching on the lighter band of skin where there used to a ring blocking the sunlight from darkening it to an even more olive hue. 

He closed his eyes and fisted his hands, willing the tears back. Steve had softened him. He used to be brash, tough as nails- “Stark men are made of iron,” Howard used to say. Tony never used to cry at the drop of a hat- or a ring. He survived a missile to the chest and capture in Afghanistan, an alien invasion, the destruction of his home while he’d still been in it. He survived his mentor and father-figure ripping his figurative heart out of his chest, poisoning by his own (accidental) design, Pepper walking away from him. He would survive this. He would survive Steve. 

Tony edged away from the sink, slowly, trying not to push himself to the point of passing out. He’d like to say it was because he valued the sanctity of his body and didn’t want to run the risk of possibly cracking his skull open on the tile floor if he fainted, but he was more concerned with the nightmares that would follow if he were to lose consciousness. 

He stepped out of the bathroom and made his way to the kitchenette, looking for something- anything- to boost his blood sugar and make the room stop spinning. Unfortunately, he was sorely disappointed to find an almost empty fridge (pull and peel cheese, ew- why were they even there) and barren cabinets. There wasn’t even anything he could use to make a smoothie. He ran out of food-stuffs a while ago but never bothered replenishing since Steve always brought meals and snacks down for him and he was tired of his fridge going rank when what little he did have in there spoiled. Grudgingly accepting that he was going to have to start compiling grocery orders for his workshop again, he shut the door with a huff.

“JARVIS, is there anyone in the communal kitchen?”

This time when there was no answer from JARVIS, there was no panic, remembering instantly that he had silenced J’s mother-henning and insistence on calling Bruce. He debated unmuting him for the sake of avoiding everyone else, weighing the pros and cons of avoiding everyone that he was trying to avoid, his AI included. Needless to say, avoiding the others took precedence but he still didn’t want to listen to his ever present AI needle him about asking for help that he didn’t want. He opted for Plan C and made his way to the dark, back corner of his lab, towards an inconspicuous door that was perfectly flush with the wall and blended in almost completely with its surroundings. You couldn’t see it if you didn’t know it was there and no one- not even Steve- knew of its existence. Hell, he barely even used the thing. Sneaking out to get dressed to meet Dr. Serafin had been the only time he used it in the last several years. Since becoming better friends with the other Avengers, he didn’t feel the need to use it to sneak back and forth.

The “in-between”- so named because that was exactly what it was: a hidden pathway between the lab and the penthouse. It was a small, dark, sound-proof stairway that went up 5 steps, veered 90 degrees to the left, went up 6 steps, veered 90 degrees to the right, and then went up another 4 steps ending in a door that opened up into his and Steve’s closet. Well, he supposed it was just his closet now. He vaguely wondered if Steve had already cleared out. A sense of dread settled in his stomach when he realized there was a possibility that Steve was there now, doing just that and he almost decided to unmute JARVIS to make sure he wouldn’t end up face to face with the very last person on the face of the planet he wanted to see. ALMOST. Instead, he figured he’d crack open the door a tiny bit to try and hear any movement from within. 

Glancing back at the front of the lab to ensure that the front glass walls were still blacked out and that no one could see in, he stooped over a tile at the base of the door and used the thumb nail of his left arm- his right arm ached like a bitch- to dislodge it enough to pull the tile up and away to uncover a hidden lever that, when pulled, would make the door pop open about 2 inches. One of the perks of this old-fashioned system was that he could still access the door in case of a power outage. The in-between was mostly a safety precaution, guaranteeing him access to his workshop- his suits- from another entry point in case the building was ever hacked and JARVIS shut down. It wasn’t even on the building schematics. Blast-proof, fire-proof, and sound-proof, it could be used as a short-term panic room, though its dim lighting could be a bit disheartening. It opened the same way from the other side, and so did the door in the closet. He slipped into the almost-darkness, leaving the door open about an inch and letting in a small strip of light that he inevitably lost as soon as he turned the first corner.

Creeping soundlessly- and pointlessly, given that he could probably detonate a large bomb in this room and no one would hear a thing- he made his way to the top and pulled the lever that would open the door at the back of his closet. There was no sense hiding the levers that opened the doors from the inside of the in-between, it was too dark to see them and he was the only one who was ever in it. The door opened soundlessly just the one in his lab did and breathed a sigh of relief- the light in the closet was off, which meant that Steve wasn’t there. Even if he had been, the door was so well camouflaged and oiled that, even with his super-soldier senses, he probably wouldn’t have picked up on it. He shut the door to the in-between with a silent click and snuck to the door that opened from his closet into his bedroom, pressing his ear against it. Nothing. He waited an extra minute or two before finally pushing his way into his other sanctuary. Or, at least, it had been when he shared it with Steve. Now, looking at the pictures next to their- his- bed, the sketchbook laying at the foot of what had been Steve’s side, the leather jacket strewn over the ottoman at the foot of it, he felt sick and not safe at all.

No longer bothering with stealth, Tony barreled out of the room, making his way to the main living area and the attached kitchen. This was his space now- if Steve was present, he’d just kick him out and throw all his crap out the door after him. Fortunately, the space was blissfully empty and Tony made right for the fridge. 

He couldn’t remember the last time he ate. They tried to feed him at SHIELD after they’d locked him in his little hell-cubicle, but he didn’t eat their disgusting rations out of protest. He hadn’t eaten breakfast the day before either because Coulson, Hill and their lackeys had shown up before he’d had the chance to even enjoy an entire cup of coffee. Not that he had much of an appetite anyway, but his legs were starting to shake and he was getting black spots in his vision. An empty stomach and severe blood loss were a bad combination for someone desperately trying to maintain consciousness. 

Wrenching open the fridge door with way more force than was necessary and then leaning almost his entire body weight on it, he reached for the nearest sugary beverage- Steve’s orange juice. He unscrewed the top then collapsed on the floor, drinking straight from the carton. Again, he had a fleeting thought that Steve would disapprove of his behavior but instead of worry his pretty little head about it, he leaned against the cabinets that made up the kitchen island and, with the lip of the carton still against his lips, threw the middle finger of his battered right arm at the front door which was the only sense of his former fiancé’s direction he could muster. 

\----------

Steve was not standing anywhere near the front door to the penthouse, in fact, he wasn’t even in the building- sort of. He was actually on the landing pad on the roof, helping Coulson, Hill, and a pair of unnamed SHIELD agents as they unloaded their equipment and whatever else they felt they needed while they were in the tower for the duration of the investigation into Agent Serafin’s murder. He thought they’d actually packed kind of light, until the helicopter they’d arrived in lifted off and another one, this one filled to the brim with boxes and another pair of agents, took its place. They made quick work of that as well and Steve couldn’t help looking up to see if yet another one would be filling the vacancy again.

Coulson caught him glance to the sky and assured him that was all. 

Just as they were loading up their arms to make their way inside, Natasha, Clint and Thor showed up to help do the heavy lifting. Aside from acknowledging nods, the group was silent as they made their way to the set of rooms- personal and business- that the Director and his team would be using the duration of their stay. The whole affair had a somber mood. 

Depositing their loads, the three Avengers took their leave and Steve made to follow them when Coulson laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and guided him back. A look at Hill from the Director had her round up her four agents and leave the room with their meager personal belongings they’d brought to tide them over while they went to get settled in the temporary quarters Steve had designated for them. Normally, finding rooms for their guests would be Tony’s job. Steve took a look at their small duffels and clenched his jaw. Small duffels meant short missions. They weren’t anticipating this being a long process. In their minds, they already knew who the murderer was.

When the room was empty, Coulson’s hand guided Steve to a chair around the conference table in the room that would be their main work station- where they’ll be building the case against Tony. He felt sick to his stomach.

Director Coulson- not Phil, not right now- sat in the chair next to him and crossed his ankle over the opposing knee in an open posture. He meant to be as non-threatening as possible but it wasn’t working. Steve was on edge and Coulson knew it.

“Has he said anything to you about what happened?”

“Is this an interrogation, Director?”

Coulson sighed. “No, it isn’t. I’m asking as your friend, Steve.”

Steve barely contained the eye-roll he so wanted to unleash. “That’s not why you’re here, though. You’re here to gather evidence to convict Tony- Iron Man- of murder.”

“We’re here to solve a murder of an agent regardless of who is the suspect-“

“Better tell that to your agents, then. They have judge, jury, and executioner written all over their faces, and they seem to have already made up their minds.”

“The evidence is damning. I’m not gonna lie, it looks really bad.” Coulson could tell that he was in danger of angering the very man who had the authority to throw them out, regardless of whether or not interfering with an investigation would look bad on the Avengers. “Look, Steve, I-.”

“Captain.”

“Steve.” Coulson got up and locked the door then returned to his seat. “You didn’t see what we saw. We aren’t talking a dainty strangulation here, this was bloody and brutal.” Steve was about to open his mouth again, when Coulson held up a hand silencing him. “It isn’t something I’d think Tony Stark capable of. I don’t think he’s capable of ‘clean’ murder either. Whoever did this to her was hate-filled and vicious- unhinged, even. But we have no other suspects and her fellow agents want to see justice. I do, too, but I’m not looking to nail an innocent man to the cross which is why I need you to work with me, here. Despite his, well, personal failings, Tony Stark doesn’t deserve to hang for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“Then why did you bring a group who’s already decided?”

“They’ve ALL already decided. These four are actually the least biased of the most qualified we have. Steve, it looks bad for him. We haven’t received the results of our forensic and DNA testing, but if ANY of it comes back incriminating it won’t bode well for him. I need your cooperation. For Tony’s sake AND to get justice for Agent Serafin. She deserves that much.” 

Coulson sat quietly while Steve let his words sink in. Tony wasn’t guilty of murder. Infidelity, apparently, but not murder, especially not the kind Coulson was describing. The only way to prove Tony’s innocence was to let the investigation play out and let the evidence speak for itself- evidence Steve may be able to provide if he cooperated. 

With a sigh to put Coulson’s previous one to shame, Steve stood up and made his way for the door. With his hand on the knob, he turned back. “I’ll do what I can to help you find Agent Serafin’s murderer. But understand that I will NOT help you incriminate an innocent man.”

“That’s all I ask.”

Steve nodded and stepped out, leaving the Director to his duty.

\----------

Tony sat cross-legged on the floor of the penthouse kitchen, clutching the newly-emptied carton of OJ like his life depended on it, when the tell-tale sound of helicopter blades whirring past the windows and away from the tower caught his attention. With a groan, he grabbed the edge of the counter in front of him with his good arm while he loosely held the carton in his right and heaved himself into a standing position, pleased that his vision didn’t swim. Wondering who had the audacity to ignore his protected airspace, he made his way to window just in time to recognize the unmarked SHIELD helicopter before it turned it tail towards the tower and made its way back to D.C.

“Son of a BITCH! JARVIS! Unmute. What the hell-.”

“Sir, I must tell you-.”

“JARVIS, what the hell was SHIELD doing here? Did they arrest Thor now, and accuse him of drowning puppies?”

“Sir-.”

“God damn-.”

“SIR! Your suits and workshop have been locked down!”

Tony turned away from the window and looked up the ceiling- a habit he picked up from Steve. “What,” he asked, breathless.

“The Iron Man shut down protocol you agreed to with Director Fury has been utilized. I’m sorry, Sir, I couldn’t warn you.”

“Coulson activated it? Oh, I will SO sue him and his damn shady agency over this.” Tony made his way back to the kitchen and leaned against the counter again, this time needing support for a different reason. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “We aren’t even associated with them anymore!”

“I’m afraid it wasn’t Coulson who activated it, Sir.”

“What are you talking about, J? Coulson, besides Fury, is the only one who has it- unless that pirate bastard came out of hiding just to finally be able to screw me over.”

“Sir, the protocol was activated by Captain Rogers.” If an AI could sound despondent, JARVIS nailed it.

Tony froze. “He wouldn’t.” Willing his body to move so he could sink to his knees before he fell over, Tony lowered himself to the floor. “He doesn’t even had the code, only Coulson-.”

“Director Coulson gave it to him, Sir. I’m sorry.”

Tony gasped trying to suck air into his lungs for the second time that day. The suits were his ONLY protection. Against the Ten Rings, against Obi, Vanko, against the Chitauri- oh, god, what if they came back? What if they came back and he couldn’t- he wouldn’t be able to- oh god. The Mandarin. He gave the Mandarin his address, what if he blew up his home again? No one would protect him-

“Sir, please breathe for me. In for 5 count, out for 5 count…”

No one would protect him, hell they’d probably give him away just to be rid of him. No Black Widow, no Hawkeye, no Thor, no Hulk. No Captain America. He was alone, all alone. They hated him. Pepper hated him. Happy hated him. Rhodey! Rhodey might come for him. Yes, Rhodey loved him. Rhodey would protect Tony. But then Rhodey could die. Tony wouldn’t let Rhodey die for him. Rhodey can’t die-

“Sir, please-.”

Tony started to feel the pull of unconsciousness again. No! “JARVIS! Don’t let me sleep, don’t let me-.”

A loud, blaring horn echoed through the penthouse, startling Tony and making his hands reflexively fly up to his ears. He felt the pull of the superglue and butterfly closures pull on his injured skin and the pain and alarm jolted him from the brink of consciousness. As quickly as the sound came, it dissipated. “I’m sorry, Sir, I didn’t know what else to do to keep you from hysteria. Please breathe with me. In, 2, 3, 4, 5. Out, 2, 3, 4, 5. In, 2, 3, 4, 5. Out, 2, 3, 4, 5… very good.”

Realizing the sound was JARVIS and that the black was receding from his vision, he tried to follow the instructions. It took about 5 minutes until he finally felt as though he wasn’t about to pass out, but it worked.

“Sir, are you alright? Startling sounds aren’t generally recommended for helping an anxiety attack-.”

“Pretty sure it’s actually on the long ‘never do’ list, J-.”

“- but it was the only thing I could think of to snap you out of it.”

“- well, it worked. Thanks, J. Let’s just, ya know, NOT add that to our usual routine, ok?”

“Of course, Sir.” A beat of silence. “Sir, may I point out that you left the workshop door to the in-between open?”

“What?” Apparently, he was still a little bit fuzzy.

“All other access points into the workshop have been shut down, but you can still access it through the in-between. The shut-down protocol behaves in such a way that there is access to get out- which is why you were able to leave- but access to enter is denied. However, you left the door open, which is an amazing stroke of luck since, again, I was muted and could not warn you. The door located in the closet runs on a separate security protocol since it doubles as a panic room, so even though you shut it, you can still get in. You can still access the area, Sir.”

“I- holy shit.” Tony had created a loophole to the protocol without even meaning to. He could feel his heart rate slowly returning to normal. Taking a deep enough breath that finally began to let his mind clear, he asked, “And the suits?”

A beat of silence made his blood run cold. 

“I’m afraid they are on lock-down and inaccessible. My apologies, Sir.”

Today was a day of firsts for Tony in regards to Steven Grant Rogers. Earlier, for the first time in his life, he feared him. Now, for the first time, he loathed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and chapter 13 were supposed to be one, but it got REALLY wordy. Next chapter should be posted soon.
> 
> There's a reason I went into so much detail with the in-between. It's important in later chapters and since it isn't canon (that I know of, though I wouldn't be surprised if Tony had more access points to the workshop than what we see in the MCU) I felt it needed to be described.

**Author's Note:**

> The "bad guy" is a secret until the BIG REVEAL later in the story. S/He's big enough that I could tag her/him as a Character, but I'm not for suspense. I know I should say who it is so I could give proper credit, however I'm hoping that just saying that they and their respective plotlines DON'T BELONG TO ME will suffice.
> 
> I apologize for any SHIELD inaccuracies. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a single episode of "Agents of SHIELD" or "Agent Carter." All Marvel knowledge I have is based off of the MCU and random tidbits I've learned from reading fanfiction.
> 
> Comments, kudos, and constructive criticism is appreciated.


End file.
